


I Long For Yesterday

by little_dumpling



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: AgriCorps (Star Wars), Alcohol used as a Coping Mechanism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angry CT-7567 | Rex, Angst, Angst City, Background Relationships, Cody is in the Mandalorian Army, Discussion of Abortion, Drunk Rex, Dubious Consent, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Gen, Good Parent Jango Fett, Heavy Angst, Hurt Obi-Wan Kenobi, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Intersex Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jaster is the head of the Mandalorian Army, Jaster lives, Loneliness, Lots of Angst, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Multi, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Pregnancy, Sad CT-7567 | Rex, Sad Obi-Wan Kenobi, University, Unplanned Pregnancy, the Clones are Jango's sons and nephews, the Fett family is well off
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_dumpling/pseuds/little_dumpling
Summary: Obi-Wan feels stuck. His life in Agricorps feels meaningless. He leaves Agricorps hoping for a positive change: a chance to study and earn a degree from the University of Mandalore. A chance to do something different with his life, somethingmore. Only when he gets there a small event overshadows his new chance and everything feelsworsethan before. Meeting Rex Fett may be the worst thing that has ever happened to him.Rex is angry. Everyone leaves him, and he is so done. The only person who still seems to be on his side is hisbuirand he wantsnothingto do with him. Another year at university doing a degree hisbuirwanted him to do. Well at least it got him away from home and all that mess. Then he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, doesn't even know his name, but it may be the worst thing that has ever happened to him.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi/CT-7567 | Rex
Comments: 235
Kudos: 279





	1. The Collision

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the Beatles song “Yesterday”. Fun fact: this story was retitled several times. It was originally “untitled rex/obi snippet” on tumblr, then it was changed to “I don't feel the same”, then “I'm not half the man I used to be”. I think the current title suits it best, but I could be wrong on that, lol. Original ficlet that inspired this story (this story is inspired by, but not a direct sequel or redo) posted [on my tumblr here](https://littledumplingwrites.tumblr.com/post/632467770347601920/writing-new-fic-do-not-read-this-post-if-you), and then encouraged by some lovelies, so this fic is all their fault. :) (Warning: if you read the tumblr version, it has spoilers for things that will happen later in this fic!)
> 
>  **Note:** A galactic standard year is 10 months, with each month being 35 days, each month having 7 weeks, and each week is 5 days. This means a regular hume (near-human) pregnancy would be about 56 weeks (instead of 40 weeks in our world) or 8 months in this universe.

* * *

Obi-Wan's hand tightened on his 'pad as he neared the open lecture doors.

This was it. He'd been looking forward to this day for almost a whole standard year. Eight standard months ago, he'd gotten his acceptance letter and it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Everything was changing, and it seemed like in a good way.

It had been hard to leave Agricorps behind, simply because it was all he had known for the past nine years. But the work there was boring. He'd surpassed any knowledge offered to him by other, more experienced Corps members, years ago. The work they did there felt rota. Mundane. Tedious.

And the work there felt unimportant and boring. It didn't feel like it was helping much of anyone. Sure, another planet that had polluted itself was less polluted due to their work. And now those people had a new opportunity to re-pollute it all over again. He'd seen the cycle on three different planets now. There was no new with Agricorps. And repeating the same cycle over and over again wore at his soul.

Their work really didn't hold a candle to the important work the rest of the Jedi Order did in the galaxy. They helped people. He helped plants grow faster. It felt meaningless.

And he was tired of his life feeling meaningless.

His life now really didn't measure up to the visions he'd had as a child, of himself: strong and courageous, a Jedi Knight flying amongst the stars, helping those who needed him. Instead he was just some backwater yokel; a Jedi reject who grew plants.

He wanted something _more_ for his life. Even if it was just an opportunity to learn something new. Travel and live somewhere _new_.

But despite the negatives of his life in Agricorps, it had taken him years to get the courage to try another option. But after years of hesitation and researching places he could go, he'd pushed himself to apply to institutes of higher education. He'd applied to a few universities across the galaxy, and been excepted by one. Now here he was: in an institute of higher learning. Ready to learn something new.

He'd always loved learning.

He'd never considered himself book smart. He'd never gotten good grades in his Initiate classes, or in the mandatory online classes he'd taken to get his equivalent GED through Agricorps. But despite that, he'd always enjoyed learning. It didn't really matter what, he just liked to learn new things.

He took a deep breath and took a step into the lecture hall and found a seat.

* * *

This was not Rex's week.

Rex took a deep breath, trying not to vomit, and heaved himself out of his bed.

He was late for his first class of the semester. Last year he'd focused on a lot of his required courses for his degree, and so this year he had the opportunity to take a lot more option classes. So he didn't feel that bad about being late for his first class, this was supposed to be one of his _fun_ classes anyways. Not that it probably would be. Nothing about school was fun anymore.

Going to university in Keldabe had been meant to give him the freedom to explore himself and his place in the galaxy. He had been excited to be away from the family community, where his every move and decision had been watched and judged by his extended family. A place where he had to do what the family wanted him to, not what _he_ wanted to. And the only person who'd understood him was long gone.

But then he'd met Pre and his on-and-off again girlfriend Bo.

Kark, they'd been so beautiful and passionate. Hearing them argue had made him want to see them in bed.

And then somehow he'd gotten himself invited to their bed. And it had been a revelation. For the rest of the school year the three of them had fought and fucked and _loved_. He thought—no he _knew_ he'd fallen in love, and fallen in love hard. He could see himself with one or both of those two for the rest of his life.

But then they'd broken up with him at the end of the last school year. All they'd said was “this was fun, but we're done” and suddenly the best thing that had happened to him in a long time was over. They'd been so casual. Like he didn't even matter to them.

“Well kriff them,” Rex muttered to himself, trying to put on his cleanest pair of socks and shoes without falling over.

He wasn't ashamed to admit he'd spent most of the summer drunk or hung over. His Buir had paid for his dorm room through the summer so he could take summer classes. And he'd made sure to sign up for the minimum to keep the room on campus. It was amazing he'd even passed the class.

Finally dressed, Rex grabbed his datapad and his keys and slammed out of the room.

* * *

Obi-Wan stood from his seat and stretched. The lecture had been a simple introduction to the course, and the professor had finished early, encouraging them to approach her if they had any questions about the syllabus.

He wouldn't mind using some of the extra time exploring the campus before he needed to find his next class.

Obi-Wan walked toward the lecture hall doors, just as someone was trying to run back in through them.

The resulting collision was more painfully embarrassing than physically painful.

With horror, Obi-Wan saw his only datapad fly out of his hands and through the air, right for another student's face.

Reaching his hand out, he used the Force to stop the 'pad, rather than cushion his own fall.

Obi-Wan carefully got back up from where he'd fallen on the stairs and reached back out to call the 'pad back to his hand.

Only when the electronic device was in his hand, did he realize that everyone in the room had stopped to stare at him. And they weren't welcoming or kind stares.

Even the student who had been almost hit in the face by his 'pad was not looking at him with kindness or gratitude.

Feeling his cheeks heat at the intense, negative regard of his peers, he ran past the other student he'd hit, and out of the room as quickly as he could.

* * *

Rex stood, rubbing his _shebs_ from where he'd landed on them, hard. That had been embarrassing.

“Rex,” a student from one of his Mandalorian law classes last year, Tal Merrik, approached him. “Are you alright?”

Rex nodded. “Looks like I missed the intro,” he jerked his head towards the front of the lecture hall where the professor stood murmuring to her TA. “Did I miss anything important?”

“Nevermind that,” Tal said, “I'll send you my notes. Did you see what that kid did?!” Tal indicated to where the other student had run out of the doors. “What a freak! Do you think he's a _jetii_?”

Rex shrugged, “Don't know, don't care. As long as I don't get mixed up with any of that weird _jetii_ magic stuff, I don't care if he's Duke Kryze himself.”

Tal laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

Obi-Wan closed the door of his apartment behind him, leaning back on the warped wood for a moment. The room felt quiet in that eerie way that spaces empty of life always felt. Maybe he should get a plant to make the room feel less empty.

The light above his head buzzed irregularly to the extent that it quickly became annoying. Streaks of light streamed through small cracks in the dirty, ragged curtains.

Being a part of the Agricorps didn't pay well. And it wasn't like the Jedi were going to pay for him to leave the Order. Being a former member of the Jedi Order also precluded him from a lot of scholarships, so he knew he would have to make his little savings last as long as he could. He might even get a job in the evenings and Bendudays (his only day off classes during the week).

He walked over to the tiny counter top and started the electric kettle, one of his few luxuries. The two small overhead cupboards were packed full, not because he had a lot of things, but because they were so small. The one on the left held the few dishes he owned and his small collection of tea and instant caff. The one on the right was squeezed full of packages of cheap noodle rations. They didn't taste good, but they had enough calories and vitamins to keep him going. He couldn't afford much else, and he wasn't that picky anyways. The Agricorps had mostly lived off these too. Sometimes they also ate some of the fresh fruit and vegetables they grew, but most of that was either sent abroad for relief efforts, or sold to fund some of their missions.

He opened one of the noodle packages, shaking it into a bowl. He'd pour hot water over it and the dehydrated vegetables it came with, once the kettle had finished heating.

He left the kettle going and moved over to sit on the rickety bed that had come with the room. It was also the only place to sit in the room. At least he'd been able to afford to buy the new linens himself.

It was only the end of his first day of classes, and already he felt like he was failing. The lectures themselves had gone alright, but by the end of the day, rumours about him had spread to all of his classes, and no one had seemed willing to even talk to him.

He dropped his head in his hands and sighed, trying to ignore the tears filling his eyes.

He'd made a mistake leaving Agricorps.

Maybe it was boring, tedious work, but at least he'd been friendly with many of the other workers.

He hadn't had any close friends, not like he had back in the temple. They all worked too far away from each other to be close friends. But they'd still supported each other and had been friendly and kind.

Here he had no one to even talk to.

Obi-Wan reached out to the Force and let it soothe him.

At least he still had the Force.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a:  
>  _shebs_ = backside


	2. The Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think "kriff" in the Star Wars Universe is meant to be a substitution for the f-word, so hopefully I've used it right here.
> 
> Translations:  
>  _laandur_ : insult meaning weak, delicate  
>  _shebs_ : rear/butt  
>  _jetii_ : Jedi, singular  
>  _buir_ : parent, gender neutral

* * *

The next few weeks of schooling went about the same as the first. The classes were interesting enough, and he worked hard on his school work, but no one would talk to him on campus.

Each afternoon, after his classes were finished, he would head to the campus library and either work on any assignments that were due soon or simply pick out a book and read whatever topic caught his fancy. He'd never had the pleasure of reading from a real book before, and he honestly loved the experience more than he could have ever thought possible. The soft smell of the paper alone was worth the inconvenience of it's constant heavy weight and turning each page by hand. The first book he'd read he'd gotten more than a few paper cuts before he'd gotten the hang of turning actual paper pages.

He would stay late into the night, not leaving the library until the last possible minute. Who would want to leave when you were surrounded by soft lighting, comfortable furniture and real, actual books. The hum of the other people working or studying also helped the ache that had settled in his chest since leaving Agricorps.

He would walk home each night and eat his only meal of the day in silence, the stillness of the room almost disturbing despite the busy city all around. Once he'd finished his meal, he would clean up and use the building's communal shower room before readying for bed. Then when in bed, he would take out his datapad, do his readings for the next day of classes before finally lying down to try and sleep.

Each morning he would wake up, dress and drink a cup of tea or caff before leaving early to go work in the warm campus library.

The morning and evening walks were chilly. But at least the views, on his three kilometre walk to campus and from campus, were pretty.

Autumn was beginning to come to the city. The large, yellow-leafed trees that grew around the campus were beginning to turn vibrant shades of red, purple and blue.

There was also a chill in the air that was beginning to chase out the warmth of the city's summer.

And so his new life at the University was established by routine. The regularity was comforting and helped a bit with the dark loneliness he felt. Old habits learned from the Jedi Order seemed to died hard, but in this case, maybe regularity wasn't such a bad thing.

On his third Zhellday in school, the last day of the school week, broke from his routine. And that break was in the form of a mistake that would haunt Obi-Wan for some time to come.

* * *

Rex felt like shit.

Everything that could go wrong, had. The first two assignments he'd handed in had gotten bad grades. A few of his friends that were also friends with Bo and Pre were avoiding him. He had no more clean clothes. He'd tripped down the stairs on the way to his classes that morning and now his knees were scraped and _aching_. He'd run out of booze and he was also running out of kriffing spending money. At this rate he'd have to phone his _buir_ and beg for more within the next week. Kriffing heck.

“Why don't you come with us to the pub tonight,” his friend, Tiber Saxon, patted him on the shoulder during their last class of the day. “Looks like you could use some cheering up.”

“I don't have a lot of spending money left,” Rex grumbled unhappily.

“Isn't your family rich?” Tiber raised one thin, pale eyebrow. “Why not just ask them for more?”

“Because then I'd have to beg my _shebs_ of a father. Pass.”

Tiber rolled his eyes. They'd been friends last year too, and all of Rex's friends had heard on multiple occasions what a jerk Rex thought his father was. The problem was that Rex had never really explained _why_ he hated the man so much. Well at least not to any of his more casual friends. Tiber was sure kriffing Bo-Katan Kryze and Pre Viszla knew why, but neither of them were speaking much to their circle of friends anymore.

Tiber just thought Rex and his exs needed to remove the sticks that were up their _shebs_. Rex would probably do better if he and those two _laandur shebs_ could kiss and make up. He hadn't seen a lot of Rex this semester, but even he could tell the young man was really struggling this year.

“Come out with us,” he nudged Rex with his elbow, “You'll feel better surrounded by all your friends.”

Rex sighed, “Alright. But you owe me a drink.”

Tiber just rolled his eyes again.

* * *

Tiber did end up buying Rex a drink that night. But just one, he didn't want his friend to get black-out drunk, and he'd seen how black Rex's mood had been lately.

The problem was that each of their friends ended up buying Rex a drink when he asked. Which meant the young man ended up drinking four pints of beer, and three shots before the bartender cut him off.

“You need to have some food,” The man behind the bar said, “And go be with your friends,” he gestured to the group in the corner. “You're gonna make yourself sick.”

Rex straightened up to make his glare more effective, but ended up almost falling over instead.

“You don't know me,” Rex slurred, jerking away from the man's concerned hand, that tried to steady him. “No one knows me anymore,” Rex muttered to himself.

He couldn't even remember why he was even at this pub anymore. So instead of heading for his friends as the man suggested, Rex pushed his way through the crowd and out the door.

* * *

Getting back to campus and his dorm room was trickier than he thought. He'd gotten a bit turned about, and was now further from campus than before.

He was starting to feel pretty queasy too.

Turning into an alley, he let his stomach revolt, puking on the ground.

“Are you okay?” A soft, cultured voice asked in basic.

It was that kid that had run into him on the first day of classes.

Rex squinted at him in the dark. “Wanna go home.”

“Where do you live?” The young man said kindly.

“Can't go home... she's gone. Can't go back to school, _they_ left me too. Everyone leaves me.”

The young man frowned at him, his red hair seemed like it had been lit on fire, with the street light overhead shining down on it.

“You're pretty, you know that?”

“Uhm, thank-you,” The young man blushed.

“Can I kiss you?”

The young man tilted his head, confused. “I think you're drunk.”

“Still wanna kiss you.”

“Al-alright.”

Rex leaned forward and smashed his face against the other man's.

“Ow.”

Rex leaned back against the wall again and laughed, watching the other rub his nose.

“Maybe we should get you home. Where are you staying?” The young man looked both perturbed by their kiss and concerned at Rex's dishevelled appearance.

Rex couldn't stop laughing. For some reason the look on the other man's face was super funny to him. “In the dorms at UM,” he said between giggles.

The young man stepped forward and put his arm over Rex, trying to help him straighten up.

“How did you get so far from campus?” The nameless young man asked as they walked down the street.

The street felt like it was swaying back and forth in front of him. In order to correct himself, he kept bumping into the other man. “Wanted to see my friends. But they didn't see me.”

The younger man's brow furled.

“Don't do that,” Rex stopped, reaching up to try to smooth out the young man's forehead. Instead he almost poked him in the eye.

The young man grabbed his hand before he could connect with his eye.

“You're so pretty, you shouldn't make that face. You should be happy.”

“I rarely feel happy,” the young man confided lowly.

At this point of night, the side street they were on was quiet and still, only the soft hum of the streetlights interrupted the silence. So there was nothing to distract Rex from the beautiful redhead, and Rex couldn't stop staring into those sad blue eyes. “Why?” He asked in a louder voice than he realized.

“I thought I'd be a Jedi, but they didn't want me. The Corps didn't work for me. I never fit in there. And here, I'm an outcast. No one even wants to talk to me.”

“I want to talk to you.”

“That's just because you're drunk.”

“Nooo,” Rex shook his head emphatically, and immediately felt like he was going to puke again. “I like you. Wanna kriff you too. Can I?”

“What?” Obi-Wan frowned.

“Wanna have sex with you.”

“I don't think that's a good idea.”

“Whyyyy?”

“I already told you, you're drunk.”

“So? Do you not like me? Aren't I attractive to you?” Rex asked sadly.

“You shouldn't make choices like that when you're drunk.”

“Please. It always makes me feel better.” Rex told him matter-of-factly, and then sagged a bit. “I'm tired.”

The young man sighed. “We haven't even gone a block. Maybe...” The young man looked at him quietly for a moment, trying to make a decision. “You can come over to my room, I guess.”

“Yes?” Rex said happily. “And then can we have sex?”

The young man sighed.

* * *

They'd only had to walk half a block and up three flights of stairs to get to the other man's room.

Rex was huffing by the time they made it up the stairs, and feeling a bit more sober. If only the walls would stop spinning. He also felt like he was going to puke.

“I think I'm gonna puke.”

“Not in the hallway, please,” the young man begged and quickly unlocked the door, directing him to a small room, no bigger than a closet. It apparently housed a toilet and some shelves with cleaning chemicals.

Rex leaned over the bowl and puked until his stomach was completely empty.

After a couple of groans, he levered himself up and out of the closet. The room outside the toilet wasn't much better. It was tiny, housing only a sink and tiny counter, a bed, dresser and a thin, off-centre window.

“Feel better?” The young man asked, and handed him a glass of water.

He grunted and drank the glass down. “A lot less happy at least.”

“Just put it in the sink when you're done,” the young man said quietly, sitting on the bed and slowly removing his boots.

After doing so, Rex moved closer to the young man, and he looked up, somber blue eyes stopping the Mandalorian in his tracks.

“You look a little more present. How do you feel?”

He did feel a bit more sober, but was definitely on the tipsy side of drunk. “Like I still want to kriff you,” Rex responded, startling himself.

“Oh,” the redhead breathed in surprise. “I thought once you weren't quite so intoxicated, you wouldn't be interested anymore,” The redhead crossed his arms demurely, and lowered his head shyly.

The shyness kind of turned Rex on more than he thought it would. Pre and Bo had been the exact opposite: they'd been people of the world, unashamed of their wants and raw sexuality.

This man seemed to exude a sort of sexual innocence.

Rex took a step closer. “Can I?”

The redhead looked up at him and nodded, mouth slightly parted.

Rex leaned forward and kissed him.

* * *

Rex slowly came awake as a ray of sun moved over his face, the next morning.

He groaned lowly. His head felt like it was being cleaved in two, and he had no idea where he was. The smell and feel of the bed beneath him definitely wasn't his own bed.

Opening one eye cautiously, he could see a tiny, decrepit room around him. Despite the obvious fact no one had up-kept the room in many years (as evidenced by the scratched cupboards, uneven flooring and torn, yellowed wallpaper), the room was incredibly clean.

The air even smelt of soft citrus cleaner. It was pleasant, especially compared to whatever had died in his mouth. This tongue felt dry and his own breath tasted horrible.

He turned his head cautiously to look over his shoulder. A sleeping young redheaded man was tucked up against his back. He looked familiar, but it took Rex a few minutes to place him.

That _jetii_ from school! He'd seemed like some weird loner type whenever Rex saw him around campus.

How the hell had Rex ended up here, in the _jetii_ 's room? He didn't really care, all he really wanted was to be back in his own room and kneel over his own toilet until the hangover dry-heaves hit.

Carefully extracting himself from the bedding, Rex moved around the room, gathering his clothes as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake the other man.

Once he had all his clothes on, he crept to the door, shoes in hand.

Just as he was about to open the latch, he stepped on a creaky floor board. The croaking floor sounded loud in his ears, but the redhead didn't even stir.

Letting out a breath of relief, Rex opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a more explicit scene I was writing about the two of them _together_ , but it just didn't fit tonally. And was kind sad, dark and a bit on the edge of dub-con. If there's interest in reading it though, let me know below and I'll post it separately.
> 
> As always, love to hear what you think of this chapter! :)


	3. The Damage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Originally I wasn't going to go into any more detail about what physically happened between them, but I got a comment that made me realize it maybe wasn't clear enough that things really didn't go down well between them. This chapter doesn't give explicit physical detail, but it does shed a light on how not!good things were. To be perfectly clear: both consented at the beginning. How valid was that consent with Rex still slightly intoxicated, but sober enough to make that decision, and Obi having some serious doubts, that's up to you (and that's why I've tagged this as dub-con). Obi does slowly start to feel uncomfortable and want to stop, but he does not tell Rex “stop”. The situation is pretty not!good, but Rex didn't realize/hear anything to indicate that Obi had changed his mind. Rex isn't a mind-reader, and he's not at his best, being slightly intoxicated. A reminder peeps, be clear and communicative with your partners. If something makes you uncomfortable, say stop, tell them no, don't stay silent if something is hurting you physically, emotionally, or psychologically. Yes, even if you consented and then say stop and they don't, whatever is happening is non-consentual. As always, stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy. <3
> 
> Note: The Star Wars standard week is 5 days long: 1. Primeday 2. Centaxday 3. Taungsday 4. Zhellday 5. Benduday. Benduday is kind of like their weekend day. :)  
> 
> 
> Translations:  
>  _ori'ramikad_ : supercommando (Mandalorian designation of elite special forces)  
>  _buir_ : parent, gender neutral  
>  _shebs_ : butt/behind/rear  
>  _jetii_ : Jedi, singular  
>  _vod_ : brother/sister, gender neutral

* * *

Obi woke alone the next morning.

Alone and _sore_. At first he'd felt hesitant when Rex had asked to be intimate with him, but then he began wondering what it would be like. He'd never done something like that before and he was curious.

Once you left the Jedi Knight path and entered the Service Corps, the rigid rules on attachments and relationships no longer applied. Many corps members had spouses, some even had children. But something had always held him back from seeking out companionship in that way: romantic or physical.

He'd always had an excuse not to seek out partners. First he'd been too young, then too busy learning too much, and then he'd felt too shy, too set in his ways to seek out others.

And of course he'd been busy! Working in the Agricorps may not have been always interesting, but there had always been something to do, some task to complete, orders to finish, soil to seed, plants to help grow.

So when Rex had asked the night before, he'd falteringly agreed. But as things had progressed he'd begun to worry he'd made the wrong choice for both himself _and_ Rex. He wasn't totally sure he wanted his first time to be a fumble with a stranger, and he was beginning to wonder if Rex was even capable of making decisions at the moment. He'd thought Rex had been sober enough to make the decision, but now he wasn't quite sure.

A deep and cold well of uncertainty had grown in his stomach. He'd tried to get Rex's attention, tried to talk him down, but Rex wasn't listening. And Obi-Wan found himself passively being stripped of his clothes.

This wasn't how he'd wanted this to happen.

He didn't fight Rex though, he knew he'd agreed in the beginning. He'd told Rex yes, he couldn't go back on his word. It was his fault for agreeing in the first place. So instead he'd turned his head away and tried to relax.

The act had ended up being _painful_ for Obi-Wan, and there had been a lot more blood than he'd expected.

But at least it had been over quickly. And when Rex had finished and collapsed on the bed, he hadn't moved away from Obi-Wan. It was the first physical contact he'd had in _so_ long.

But Rex had left while he'd been sleeping, and now here he was: hurt and alone once again. He wasn't sure which was worse, the physical pain or the lonely ache in his heart.

Obi-Wan shivered and carefully climbed out of the bed.

* * *

Obi-Wan did his best to move past the disaster that was his night with Rex. He saw the Mandalorian in passing, around campus over the next few weeks. Occasionally he even saw Rex in the one class they shared on Primeday and Taungsday mornings. Obi-Wan didn't think Rex attended the class very often, but he wasn't all that sure.

The class they shared (the Military History of Mandalore) was a lot more interesting than Obi-Wan had thought it would be. So much so, that Obi-Wan rarely noticed whether or not Rex was there, despite the awkwardness Obi-Wan felt towards him.

Every time Obi-Wan saw Rex walking around campus, he did his best not to stare too hard at the other young man. He wondered, over the next few weeks, if things had happened differently between them, if maybe Obi-Wan would have enjoyed it.

But despite the disaster that had been their physical encounter, he would still have been interested to get to know the Mandalorian better. He felt hesitant in initiating anything with the other man without a sign that it was wanted, though.

So one day a few weeks after they'd been intimate, Obi-Wan forgot his water bottle at home and stopped by one of the University cafeterias to buy one. He rarely ate during the day, but he drank lots of water. He'd passed by one of the tables and noticed Rex surrounded by five other students. As he passed, their eyes met for the first time since that night, so Obi-Wan had smiled... And, well, he wouldn't be doing _that_ again.

When Rex's eyes had caught with Obi-Wan's, Obi-Wan had smiled and the Mandalorian had shot him with the dirtiest glare he'd ever received, turning away instead to talk with his friends.

Obi-Wan had quickly given up on the idea of getting to know the other man. Obi-Wan could take a hint.

* * *

Realistically, Obi-Wan knew what had happened between them hadn't been good. But he also was old enough and galaxy-weary enough to know that sex wasn't always good.

At first, he'd been worried it would make him feel even more physically timid than before; even more likely to shy away from physical touch. But as time passed, he realized it hadn't. Yes, he was lonely, but he so wanted to reach out if only someone would reach out to him first.

Not that anyone would have reached out to him, what him being persona non grata on campus. Even now he was still without friends, a social group, or even studying partners. He had hoped some of the antipathy towards him would die down, but it hadn't. In fact, if anything, people seemed even more wary of him than they had in the first three weeks of school. Which was strange to Obi-Wan, but he tried to ignore it and get on with his school work.

At least none of that was effecting his school work, thank the Force. The whole reason he'd come to Mandalore was to get a degree. And he wouldn't let anything stop him.

* * *

Another week passed, his steady routine only changed by the differing lectures in his classes.

But on Centexday of the week after that, something was different with _Obi-Wan_.

Obi-Wan leaned over the toilet, vomiting up all the noodles he'd eaten for dinner, just twenty minutes earlier.

He'd felt nauseous for the last couple of days, but today was the first time he'd actually vomited.

Obi-Wan flushed the toilet and frowned. He hoped he wasn't getting sick.

* * *

For Rex, the next three weeks passed by in a haze of schoolwork, alcohol and hanging out with various friends. He definitely spent more time drinking and being with his friends than doing his schoolwork, but who could call him out for that? No one actually came to University solely to learn. It was all about the _experience_.

So maybe that experience meant drinking a bit heavier than most of his friends, who cared?

No one.

He did end up having to call his _buir_ and beg for money though. And wasn't that _fun_.

He would have avoided the comm call for as long as he could, but his finances were getting a little tight. And of course that conversation had not gone well, at all.

“ _Let me guess, you need more money_?” His buir had asked dryly in Mando'a, when he'd answered the comm call.

“ _Why do you always talk to me like that_ ,” Rex had shot back angrily.

Jango sighed and shook his head. “ _I always like to hear from you,_ Rex. _But these days the only time you ever talk to me is when you need money_.” His _buir_ ran his hand up the right side of his face and into his hair. Rex had seen Cody do that gesture so many times. He hadn't realized until he'd gotten older that his brother must have picked that up from their _buir_.

Jango ruined everything, even his favourite _vod_.

“ _Tell you what_ ,” his _buir_ continued in Mando'a, “ _I will send you more spending money each week, if you call each Benduday and we have a conversation about how your classes are going_.”

“What if I don't want to talk about my classes,” Rex switched to Basic, petulantly.

“ _Then we talk about how your friends are, or things you've done that week. Just any positive conversation, I don't care what it is. But you'll **talk** to me_.” Jango said, starting to lose his patience.

“Fine.”

Jango sighed and rubbed his face again in frustration.

* * *

Very few Mandalorian students walked around campus in their actual armor, there was no reason to. But Tiber's younger brother Gar always seemed to be strutting around proudly, in his lower vambraces and chest plate. Whenever Rex saw him he couldn't help but roll his eyes; wearing _beskar_ when there was no need seemed was far too gauche to him.

But wearing the armor seemed to work well for the young freshman. Rex often noticed girls stopping to ask Gar about his armor colors or designs. If Rex wasn't so annoyed by Gar's blatant display of his armor, Rex would be impressed with how easily he scored with the ladies.

“It's so annoying,” Rex complained to Tiber one lunch, trying not to glare too hard at where Gar was sitting by them, sandwiched between two flirty girls.

Tiber just laughed. “It is a bit arrogant, but that's just who Gar is. Came out of the womb trying to prove how great he is. Just don't challenge him to a spar. I might be just barely good enough that I can beat him down, but his arrogance has given him the power of making every over-confident Mando to meet him, ask to challenge him to a spar. And he's used those challenges to better his fighting techniques for the past decade. He's surprisingly good at hand-to-hand.”

Rex had seen the two of them tussle. A couple weeks back, during a party welcoming all the freshers to their dorm building, the two brothers had gotten into an argument that had quickly turned physical. And Rex wasn't one to give praise to anyone really, but it _had_ been quite impressive. “Bet my brother could kick his _shebs_.”

“The brother who's the _ori'ramikad_ , the brothers who are the trouble-making twins or the little brother that dogs your every step when you actually go home for the hols?”

Rex frowned at his friend, “You really do know too much about my family. It's kind of creepy.”

“Not really,” Tiber laughed, “You just talk about them _all_ the time when you're tipsy.”

Rex felt his neck grow hot at the implication that he was always drunk. In his embarrassment, he looked away and right into the eyes of that _jetii_ kid he'd had the one night stand with a few weeks back.

And the young man had the audacity to meet his eyes and _smile_ at Rex, like he wasn't some kriffing reject _jetii_ loser.

“Kriff,” Rex muttered, glaring.

“What?” Tiber asked, putting down his chopsticks.

Rex turned to his friend motioning to the redhead with his shoulder, “That guy.”

“The _jetii_ kid everyone thinks is cursed?”

“I fucked him a few weeks ago.”

“Rex, you didn't,” Tiber groaned.

Rex shrugged. “It was that night we went to Mo'Rann's Pub with Fenn and his crew.”

“I did wonder where you'd disappeared to. How was it?” Tiber asked, curious.

Rex shrugged and grunted, trying not to think about how much his grunt sounded like his _buir_ before the man had had his morning caff. “Alright I guess. Don't remember much of it other than that he seemed pretty virginal. Probably did some weird mind trick so I'd forget.”

“Rex, stop telling tales. Weren't you smashed that night?” Tiber asked dryly, not impressed.

“Whatever.” Rex said dismissively, rolling his eyes and turning back to his food.

Rex didn't notice Gar and his two lady friends listening to their conversation with great interest.

* * *

Obi-Wan groaned and stood up, leaning against the metal partition. He pressed his forehead to the cool durasteel and took a deep breath. He leaned forward to flush his bile and thrown-up morning tea down the toilet.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and opened the stall so he could go rinse out his mouth at the sink.

“I heard he used his mind powers to force Fett to...” A male student said as he walked through the 'fresher door.

“Shut up!” The other student hissed as they saw him.

They were staring at him so intently that instead of rinsing out his mouth, he quickly washed his hands and left the public 'fresher as fast as he could.

He wondered who they were talking about, and who Fett was. He had a sinking feeling that it might have something to do with him.

* * *


	4. The Result

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I am not a doctor, I'm sure that shows. If you see any medical inaccuracies from the chapter, feel free to correct me in the comments. But as always, do take a grain of salt about any information presented. I do my best to research, but this is still fanfiction, and it's not at all written by an expert in medicine or pregnancies. :)  
> -also I did a terrible job keeping track of time, but we should be about a Star Wars month or seven weeks since Rex and Obi made that late night mistake, lol!  
> -Jango made his first appearance last chapter! Now you get a very small taste of who Cody's gonna be in this story! *throws confetti*  
> -Also, thanks to Nixus_Hiver for pointing out I'd forgotten to write in the English words for the Mando'a Translations last chapter *headdesk*, fixed it, lol!  
> -days of the week again, bc I seem to be using them every chapter now, lol:  
> Primeday (like their Monday), Centaxday, Taungsday, Zhellday, Benduday (their weekend day)
> 
> Translations:  
>  _buire_ : Parents, plural  
>  _buir_ : Parent, singular  
>  _osik_ : crap/dung  
>  _ori'vod_ : big brother/sister  
>  _vod_ : brother/sister  
>  _Su'cuy_ : Hi, informal greeting  
>  _ehn_ : three

* * *

Obi-Wan stood at the narrow window, looking out at the wet street, late Zhellday night. The soft sound of rain beating against the window filled the room. There was something both soothing and morose about the sound, which really fit his mood right now, but really didn't help the dark trail of his thoughts.

It looked like normal rain: the skies were dark with clouds and the rain droplets looked, smelt, felt and sounded like the real thing. It was easy to forget that a lot of the weather in Keldabe was controlled by the government. They wouldn't have any precipitation otherwise. With most of the planet Mandalore desolate and covered in acidic deserts, the cities still habitable on planet _had_ to be protected using large domes. Without that protection, the irradiating waste and acid rain that were a result from all their past wars, would kill the planet's inhabitants and erode away their infrastructure.

But the government had done a good job creating weather controlled environments under the domes. So good, you couldn't tell the protection was there unless you got too close to one of the dome's edges.

Obi-Wan wished they weren't so good at creating realistic weather, he would have loved to find fault in it so he could think about something, _anything_ , other than what was weighing on his mind right now.

But nothing could distract him from what he'd found out yesterday. And he had no _kriffing_ idea what he was going to do.

* * *

But what Obi-Wan now knew, had taken a while for him to figure out.

First, nausea had become a daily part of his life. For four weeks, he vacillated between only feeling slightly sick to barely being able to stand and expelling everything he'd eaten that day.

At first, he dismissed it. He thought maybe it was a virus, some illness common to Mandalore that he'd never contracted before or something he'd never been immunized against. By the end of the second week, he knew that couldn't be the reason. So he began to try to figure it out on his own.

He hesitated going to see a healer. If the Mandalorian students on campus gave him a wide berth for no reason he could understand, why wouldn't a Mandalorian healer? Plus, most Mandalorian healers wouldn't be familiar with Force sensitives, if the illness was something Force related.

He did have some other symptoms, but most of those could be explained away by his recently disturbed sleep, or the fact that he hadn't up kept the physical exercises he'd practiced first as a Jedi initiate, and then continued as a Corps member.

But there were other symptoms, like his suddenly foggy short term memory and sore hips, that could easily be explained by his poor sleep. And his general weariness and feelings of malaise could easily be explained from letting his exercise routines lapse.

But the nausea and vomiting, those couldn't be explained.

 _It must have something to do with the Force and my feelings of withdrawal from people and living things_ , he thought at first. He'd let much of his meditation routines slide over the past few years. After all, a lot of his Agricorps projects had been like extended, deep meditations, so what use was it to keep meditating in his spare time then?

He hadn't thought to pick meditation back up after leaving Agricorps, and now his body was showing the tattered state of his soul and connection to the Force. Or at least that's what the nausea was from, he reasoned... That had to be it, right?

He remembered hearing stories as a Jedi initiate. Stories of Jedi whose bodies had physically manifested Force issues and broken bonds, so this could be a physical manifestation of his disconnect with the Force, especially the Living Force. Right?

For a week, he'd let himself entertain that idea. So he began meditating deeply each night before he went to bed.

It cut short some of his reading time, but he could honestly say it had been worth it. By the end of that week, he felt less depressed and more uplifted than he had since coming to Mandalore.

 _But_ , he also had to be honest with himself. By the end of that week the nausea hadn't abated at all. And the Force was making it pretty clear to him that his connection to the Force wasn't what was causing his physical ailments.

Unfortunately, the Force wasn't exactly telling him what _was_ making him ill, or how to find out what was. The Force didn't work that way, after all. It could provide feelings, sometimes even visions of the future or of the outcome of certain choices. If he made a choice or action, the Force could react positively or negatively, but it didn't tell him what to do all the time. At least, it didn't work like that for him. Maybe it did for stronger, better Force sensitives.

He'd long thought that was one of the reasons the Order hadn't wanted him. Not Force sensitive enough, not strong enough and too emotional. He was never meant to be a Jedi.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, he needed to figure out what was happening with his body. It obviously wasn't a Force issue. So he was once again back to square one: what was wrong?

He'd been nauseated and throwing up for four weeks now, and he needed to find out for sure.

So he did the one thing he hadn't wanted to: he went to go see a healer.

* * *

There was a free clinic on campus for university students. A small fee was charged at the beginning of every semester, and students were allowed to see a healer if they ever needed to. The downside of the service was that you usually had to wait two to three hours just to see someone, unless you had a pre-scheduled appointment. 

He was feeling pretty anxious about the whole thing by now. He'd left it too long. He really needed to see someone that day and hopefully lay this whole thing to rest.

Obi-Wan couldn't afford to see a more private healer in the city, so the free service would have to do. He'd just have to suffer through the long wait. Hopefully he didn't vomit.

* * *

Obi-Wan sat in the stuffed waiting room, trying to ignore the students on either side of him, desperately trying not to touch him, despite the fact that they were all squished quite close together. There was obviously not enough chairs for the amount of people here, forcing some waiting patients to stand.

Obi-Wan was glad he'd been able to grab a seat. Vomit was already feeling like it was crawling up the back of his throat, and he didn't want to try to have to stand through the discomfort.

The wait was the longest two hours of his life.

He'd skipped out early from his last class, when the lecturer had been answering questions, so he could get in before the clinic closed the waiting line for the day.

But sitting there, surrounded yet ignored, he kind of wished he'd let himself forget for one more day and gone back to his room off-campus, instead.

He'd brought his 'pad loaded with some of his readings for tomorrow, hoping to get some work done while he waited, but he couldn't concentrate.

So instead he stared off into space, mind coming up with worse and worse things this illness could be.

His mind had currently decided on unknown radiation exposure or cancer when a woman in pink scrubs finally called his name.

A few other waiting students glared at him when they heard his name called. He hoped it was because he was being seen next, and they were feeling impatient, and not because of how everyone on campus seemed to both know who he was and refuse to even speak to him.

Obi-Wan stood from his seat and followed the woman down a back hallway, before he was shown into a tiny examination room.

“What's the reason for the visit?” The woman asked boredly, twirling a piece of her long blue hair before unlocking her medical 'pad.

“Are you the healer?” He asked tentatively.

“No, I'm an assistant, I record notes and preliminary stats for the healer, so when they come in they have some idea what's going on. As you could see from the waiting room, our healers are very busy.” She looked down at her 'pad as she talked, rapidly typing something.

“I, uhm, I've been feeling really ill the last four weeks.”

“Ill how?”

“Mostly nauseous.”

The woman nodded, typing quickly. “Coat off, I'm going to take some readings,” she said with no emotion, getting up to snap on some gloves and grab a medical sensor cuff.

He carefully pealed off the battered coat he'd had for a few years now. It was dark brown and buttoned up the right side of his chest. It had lost a few buttons over time and gained more than a few dark, earthy stains from his last two Agricorps projects. He didn't care if it did look ragged, it was one of the few things that was _his_.

Underneath he was wearing a very plain light brown tunic, that wasn't that dissimilar to what many rural people in the galaxy wore, and a pair of light brown leggings. He'd bought no new clothes since he'd arrived on Mandalore, and he wondered now if that wasn't one of the first things that set him apart from the the other students. Most of the other students wore much more modern looking clothing in many different colours and textures. Thinking about it now, he must really stick out on campus.

Maybe he should buy some new clothes? Maybe that would help him fit in more?

The healer's assistant brought over the cuff, latched it onto his arm and pressed a couple buttons. Some numbers in Aurebesh began to flash and she grabbed her datapad, writing down the stats that came up.

Obi-Wan hadn't seen a healer since he was a youngling, an initiate in the Great Krayt clan. He had come down with a nasty fever, which had turned into two weeks of miserable bed-rest and seclusion from the other younglings. So he didn't have very fond memories of healers. But he generally had good health and he didn't really need to see a healer much. So he was unfamiliar with the device squeezing his upper arm. “What is it reading?”

“Blood pressure, heart rate, O2 blood levels, and breath rate. We might take some blood or tissue samples later if more information is needed.”

After that, she asked for some personal information like birth date and planet, then weighed him and measured his height.

“Anything else I should note for the healer?” She asked, gesturing for him to sit back down on the exam bed.

Obi-Wan thought of the mental fogginess, sore hips and weary exhaustion that dogged him. “No.”

She nodded and took a step towards the door, typing away.

“A healer will be with you soon,” she said and stepped out of the room, letting the door swing closed behind her.

* * *

Luckily, Obi-Wan only waited about 20 minutes after the healer's assistant had left. That felt like a blink of the eye compared to the long, uncomfortable wait in the waiting room.

“Hi, I'm healer Ven N'utreya,” The middle-aged woman with dark curly hair and caramel and green stripped eyes said, as she walked through the door.

She smiled at him as she sat down on the stool next to a small desk and unlocked the datapad she had been carrying.

“So it says here that you've been really nauseated lately,” she looked up at him with kindness, “How nauseous and how often?”

“Everyday,” Obi-Wan admitted, “For most the day. I only vomit occasionally. Like once every other day or so.”

“For the past four weeks?” She consulted the datapad, flipping through his electronic chart.

“Yes.”

“Was there any change in your diet or lifestyle just before that?”

Obi-Wan shook his head.

“Any other symptoms that might give me some more information?” The healer frowned, deep in thought.

“Well...” Obi-Wan hesitated.

The healer's eyes snapped to his, “Go on, there's nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I'm not ashamed,” Obi-Wan said unconvincingly, “I just wasn't sure they were relevant. Some of them have been present for longer than the nausea.” Maybe there was some part of him that felt a bit ashamed that he felt so weak all the time now. And he definitely felt ashamed that he'd really let go on his physical fitness since Agricorps.

“How much longer?” The healer asked intently.

“Almost a month.”

“And what were symptoms? Any information, no matter how little, can help.”

“Well, my hips have been been really sore lately, off and on, but I usually notice it the most in the mornings. And I've been having trouble with my memory. I've been forgetting things for my classes, like when assignments are due, or the code to my datapad, or where I left my keys. Generally I have a pretty good memory... And I've been really tired lately. But I'm sure that they just have to do with fact that I haven't been sleeping well lately.”

“You haven't been sleeping well?” the healer focused in on that fact.

“Yeah, I haven't been, but I've been under a lot of stress from my classes.” He shrugged.

“That could be the reason,” the healer said slowly, in disbelief. “But we should consider all of those as symptoms until we can rule them out completely. Now, why don't you describe what your sleeping problems feel like, or present like.”

Obi-Wan described his restlessness, and how difficult it had been lately to get his body to fall asleep. He'd even gotten in the habit of falling into a light meditative state to help push his body into sleep easier. Of course, the nausea didn't help, and often contributed to him feeling worse when he was laying down.

“You mean the nausea is more in your throat or chest, when you lie down?” The healer raised a brow.

“Yeah, I guess,” he'd never thought about it like that, but that did make sense with how he felt at night.

The healer looked like she wanted to laugh, but was too polite to, “You're probably having either heartburn if it's up in your chest,” she gestured to her chest to indicate her meaning, “Or acid reflux if it's more in your throat.”

Obi-Wan frowned and cocked his head. He'd never had either of those before, he didn't really know what they would feel like. But what she was saying made sense. “How are they different?”

She shook her head, “They're both caused by the same thing: your stomach acid is moving up your esophagus and burning the tissue. Wherever you feel the pain the most, that's where your esophagus is being irritated by the acid.”

“What could be causing that?” Obi-Wan frowned.

“Well, adding it together with your other symptoms: trouble sleeping, nausea, exhaustion, pelvis or hip pain and memory issues, it sounds to me like you're pregnant... I don't mean to be indelicate, and please to correct me if I'm wrong, _but_ I'm guessing you're from a species that has both sexual organs, since you physically present as male and have written your birth planet as Stewjon.”

Obi-Wan nodded, dazed.

“Have you had any unprotected sex in the last few months?” She asked gently.

“No, I... oh.” Obi-Wan had tried to put the experience with Rex out of his mind. He'd apparently succeeded so well he'd not even thought that could be a factor. His own theories about what was wrong with him were _way_ off.

He couldn't have a child. He'd be a horrible parent! He would screw them up so bad. He had no money, no place to raise a child! He was in school—He really didn't have time—what the hell was he going to do?! He—he—

His lungs felt like they were burning and his vision went dim.

“Deep breaths,” The healer's calm voice was saying. She was somehow standing right next to him, with a firm hand resting on his upper arm. “Focus on my breathing and match yours to it.”

Eventually his breathing slowed and his vision returned to normal.

“There's a good chap,” she smiled down at him, and squeezed his arm in support. “Now, I get this is a lot to process, but we don't know for sure that you're pregnant. So how about we do a quick blood test and find out for sure if that's the cause of your symptoms.”

He nodded, taking a deep breath.

She took out a small electronic reader and set it on the desk next to her datapad. Next she went to a cupboard and pulled out a sterile collection needle that would fit into the device once it had taken his blood. She unwrapped the needle from the thin enclosing duraplast that kept it clean and moved over to him with a sterilizing cloth.

“Small pinch,” she said cheerfully after she sterilized the collection site on his arm, and then pushed the needle in with a small click.

He winced as she retreated, plugging the collection needle into the reader and disposing of the cloth.

They were quiet for a few moments as the device analyzed his blood.

Finally it beeped and the healer looked down at the results.

“Congratulations,” she said not unkindly, “You're going to be a parent.”

He closed his eyes in shock, he felt like he was going to vomit and faint. He really hoped it wasn't both.

* * *

One week later, and midterms were not going great for Rex. Sure, he hadn't really studied all that much for them, but what did it matter, he was smart... right? At least that was always what his _buire_ had always told him, growing up. To be fair, Jango _had_ always said that hard work was the only way to get good at anything decent, but his opinion didn't matter anymore, anyways.

So he should be able to do fine without studying. He hoped. _Osik_ , maybe he _should_ crack open a textbook or something.

Rex felt confident he could bull his way through most of his tests until he remembered he had a course on the military history of Mandalore. That midterm would require a lot more regurgitated facts than most of his other classes. He also had been a lot worse at attending those lectures. No one could blame him for that though, it was the first class on a _Primeday_. He was usually still hungover from the weekend by the time that class rolled around. At least he usually made it to the morning lectures for that class on Taungsdays.

Maybe he really did need to start studying for that midterm. He groaned to himself at the idea, his eyes still aching from staring at the test he'd just finished.

But his _ori'vod_ would kill him if he failed the military history test. Kriffing Mandalorian military history. Speaking of his _ori'vod_ , he hadn't answered his brother's last text comm back. He should probably get on that before his _vod_ showed up at the University and embarrassed him in front of all his friends.

Rex softly smiled to himself when he remembered that very event happening last year. Back when he actually cared about his classes and had spent _hours_ studying and writing assignments. Making sure they were perfect as possible before handing them in. He'd also been heavily involved with Pru and Bo at the time, and had gotten a little lax at answering communications with his family.

After a week of not hearing from him, Cody had shown up outside his dorm room in his full armour, just because he'd was worried about Rex. He'd rather not have _that_ happen again. Even if the memory did give him soft, fuzzy feelings.

Rex opened up the text feature of his comm and re-read Cody's message:

 _Did you get the picture I sent you?_ Cody had written, _Also, how are you doing little bro? :) heard from buir that you talked to him last week! :D_

 _Yeah, I got it. Lol, @ boba. Im fine,_ Rex typed back, _not doing too great on my midterms tho_

Rex sent the text as he left the warmth of the Galactic Science building and headed towards the Student Services Hall to pick up some grub for dinner.

He was just paying for his meal when his comm rang, indicating a holo call. It was Cody.

Rex picked up his food and left the dining hall before answering the call.

“ _Su'cuy vod_ ,” Cody's serious face appeared as a holo.

Rex nodded at the image of his brother.

“What's this about not doing well on midterms? Do you need me to swing by campus one night and help you study up?”

“What would you know about the classes I'm taking?” Rex said, crossing his arms, careful not to drop the container of his dinner. "You were a kriffing poetry major.”

Cody scowled at him, and Rex ignored how identical it was to his own scowl, when he saw it in the mirror. "There's nothing wrong with poetry, but it was general literature, and you know I only minored in it. I majored in History."

"Yeah, but you didn't even finish your degree. How am I supposed to take university seriously when my example, my _ori'vod_ , only finished his first year before dropping out?"

Cody's face softened in worry. "Do you really hate it that much? I remember you loving school when we were kids.”

Rex looked away from the love and concern in Cody's expression. "It not what I thought it would be. And I'm here doing the major _he_ chose for me!"

"Rex," Cody said with kind exasperation, "You know buir encouraged you to do any major you wanted. But when you couldn't pick he suggested you _start_ with law until you figured out what that was. Buir wants you to have a good life, and he knows you would be a great lawyer. You certainly got the brains for it, _if_ you study!"

"Yeah," Rex said morosely. He really didn't want to talk about it.

Cody sighed. “How about I stop by on Benduday. You don't have classes and I'm not on duty. I'll bring curry for lunch and help you study for any upcoming tests.”

Rex shrugged noncommittally. “Whatever works.”

Cody frowned at Rex's vague answer. “See you Benduday then.”

Rex nodded and cut the transmission.

Great, now he only had two days to clean his dorm room or he'd endure no small amount of teasing from his brother on Benduday...

Not to mention, he should probably start studying for a few of his finals so he didn't seem like a total idiot when his brother got here.

Rex sighed as he reached the dorm building _Ehn_ and pulled out his identcard so he could let himself in.

* * *


	5. The Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -all information about Mandalore's military history was taken from Wookiepedia. Cassus Fett was a real character in Legends! :)  
> -timekeeping: obi is 8 weeks along.  
> -also, dunno if I've ever mentioned their ages before, but Obi-Wan is currently 22 in this fic (he started at Agricorps when he was 12, almost 13 and spent just over 9 years there), and Rex is 19, in his second year at uni. Rex keeps mentally calling Obi-Wan a kid, but it's just because Obi-Wan has a baby face. Rex thinks he's a youngun' Fresher. Well partially he's right, Obi is a Fresher. :D  
> -in regards to the testing on “flimsiplast” or paper testing, I know it's now allll done online bc of covid, but when I was going to school years back, this happened at my university, going back and forth between paper and electronic testing, so that's why I've included it here. :)
> 
> -days of the SW week:  
> Primeday, Centaxday, Taungsday, Zhellday, Benduday
> 
> Translations:  
>  _ori'vod_ : big brother/sister  
>  _dar'jetii_ : sith, don't forget that the Mandalorians often allied themselves with the sith in the past!  
>  _buir_ : parent, singular  
>  _ba'buir_ : grandparent, singular, gender neutral

* * *

They'd finished their spicy curries hours ago. They'd spent the next few hours just chatting, like they had as teens, talking about whatever came to mind. And then Cody had started quizzing Rex on various notes from his classes (some of which had been stolen from various friends for the lectures he'd skipped).

The camaraderie was almost palpable between them and Rex treasured the feeling. It had felt like there had been miles between them after... after everything. And then Cody had taken Jango's side and Rex had worried their close relationship from before was gone forever. But Cody had been trying for the past four months, oh how he'd been trying, to show Rex that all was not lost between them. And Rex appreciated his brother's efforts.

Currently, Cody was curled up on Rex's bed with Rex's datapad full of notes and a bag of chocolate candies. Meanwhile Rex paced back and forth in the small space between the bed and the door of his dorm room.

“When did the Mandalorian Crusaders start expanding out from Mandalore?” Cody quizzed him.

“3000 years before the Ruusan Reformation,” Rex shot back.

“Correct. What did Mandalore the Indomitable do when he learned the Krath witch Keto betrayed him and his allied _dar'jetii_ , Qel-Droma, during the Great Sith War?” Cody asked.

“He said he would kiss my _shebs_ ,” Rex said dryly, not remembering the answer to that question.

“Hey!” Cody shouted, frowning and throwing candies at Rex. “That's not right, he got the _dar'jetii_ Exar Kun to help destroy her.”

Rex scowled at his _ori'vod_ , ducking his head to dodge a flying candy. “If you're just here to make a mess—!”

Cody laughed and held up his hands in a sign of truce. The setting sun cast red beams of light through the window, spotlighting his brother's dark eyes, which were sparkling with mischief. It made Rex happy to see an expression like that on Cody's face. It had seemed like it had been years since he'd seen Cody smile.

"Who was Cassus Fett?” Cody asked another question from the notes.

“Mandalore the Ultimate's Field Marshall and closest adviser,” Rex answered. “He helped standardize the Mandalorian Crusaders armour and training.”

Cody brought the datapad close to his face, pretending to have to check the answer and then grinned up at him from the 'pad. The blue light from it's screen highlighted the bumps and ridges of his scar. “Hmm, look at that, you're right.”

Rex smiled and shook his head. “If I didn't know that one I may have had to disown myself.”

“Well don't ever do that,” Cody looked up at him warmly.

Rex turned his head away, feeling shy at his brother's warm regard.

Cody continued to quiz him for another twenty minutes, moving his way up through The Dark Wars and The Great Galactic War: the last two events the professor had said would be covered on the midterm.

“Well,” Cody sighed and sat up, stretching his neck. “I think you're ready kid.”

“You think so?” Rex asked, seeking his older brother's reassurance. He knew it must make him sound so very young.

“Absolutely. You'll knock 'em dead tomorrow during your exam.” He paused and his smile faded. “Just make sure you actually _go_ to it.”

“Oh,” Rex said in guilty surprise, “So you know about that.”

“Oh, I know about that,” Cody said mockingly and then grinned teasingly. “I know about all your skipping. And you should be eternally grateful to me for not passing on that bit of information to _buir_ or _ba'buir_.”

Rex winced. Truly, he'd be real trouble if their Grandfather, Jaster, knew how much Rex was skipping classes, kriffing around and drinking himself into stupors.

“I should get going kid.” Cody unfolded himself from the bed. “I had the day off today, but I have to be up and ready for barracks inspection at 0400 tomorrow.”

“And I thought a _nine a.m._ class on Primeday was torture.” Rex tried to lighten the mood.

Cody smiled crookedly at him and stepped up into Rex's space. He reached up and rubbed his hand through Rex's bleached buzzcut, like he had when Rex had been small. The action was comforting and familiar, regardless of the fact that Rex was the same height as his older brother now.

“I'm proud of you, little brother, for sticking with school despite everything.” Cody said softly.

Rex tried to smile and ignore the weight currently settling in his stomach. If Cody only knew how rude, and mean, and drunk Rex had been this year, he wouldn't be saying that.

“Love you,” Cody smiled and leaned in to pull him into a hug.

Rex embraced him back tightly. “Love you too.”

* * *

Rex finished his test and quickly checked over the answer sheet to make sure he'd filled it out correctly and hadn't missed any questions.

Once he had, he stood and made his way down the steps of the sunken lecture hall to hand in his test booklet and answer sheet. Most university testing was still done on hard copy rather than electronically, at least at this university. It was strange to hand in a flimsiplast copy of his test rather than just submit it electronically like he did with all his essays.

The university had actually tried to move to electronic testing a few years ago, but the professors had all complained and they'd moved back to flimsiplast. He knew it was because of cheating issues and electronic testing limited the type of examinations they could do, but he wished they had made the transition to electronic testing permanently. Making sure he actually had a pencil on hand for each test was annoying. Who carried around pencils or pens anymore when you could just carry around a 'pad stylus?

After handing the test to the TA, Rex turned to walk back up the stairs, and his eyes locked with the redheaded _jetii_. The kid was staring at him unnervingly, so intense it gave Rex chills. The only thing he noticed before he looked away, was that the young man was extremely pale and sickly looking. But he didn't care, the weirdo could be obsessed with him if he wanted, Rex wasn't going to give him the time of day. Ignoring the redhead, he walked up the stairs to the exit.

He noticed his friend Tal finishing his test near the top, and nodded to him, indicating he'd wait for him outside in the hallway.

* * *

Obi-Wan was close to finishing his test when he noticed Rex handing in his answer sheet, at the front of the hall. The Mandalorian turned towards the stairs and right where Obi-Wan was sitting.

So many thoughts about the baby he was carrying and the night they'd shared their bodies, flitted through Obi-Wan's mind, and he had to stop himself from saying anything when Rex ignored him and walked past.

Obi-Wan tried to focus back on his test, but his concentration was shot. He guessed on the last two answers, checked his name was on the paper and handed it in.

He walked quickly out of the hall, wondering if he hoped Rex was still around, or if he really hoped he wouldn't have to face the other young man.

He knew he'd have to tell the other man about the baby, and soon. For a couple reasons. The young man deserved to know he'd fathered a child. Also, he knew Mandalorians held the concept of family as very important. He hoped that meant Rex would help him, because Obi-Wan didn't have enough money to take care of this baby by himself.

There was always the option of getting rid of the baby, but Obi-Wan knew he couldn't do that...

Now that he knew about the child, he'd tried reaching inside himself to feel it in the Force. Last night, during his evening meditations, he'd been able to feel that spark of life within him. It was amazing. So bright and pure in the Force. He couldn't get rid of it, even if he had to give the child up.

Maybe with him being the parent the child would be Force Sensitive enough to be given to the Order. He didn't really know how to raise a child. He hadn't grown up in a normal family unit. He didn't really know how they worked. It might make sense to give the child up, anyways.

The thought hurt. The idea that this child might be rejected by the same Order that rejected him, or if the child was accepted and wanted and raised to be a Knight, would that make him bitter in the opposite way? He already wondered what had been so wrong with him that no Master had wanted to train him. He'd been told by many of his instructors that he was on the track of Jedi Knight before he'd been sent away.

What had made them change their minds? And would this child face the same fate? Or would this child prove that Obi-Wan really was useless except as an incubator?

He shook away the dark thoughts and stepped out of the lecture hall and into the warm, open hallway of the History building.

Rex and another student were standing not far from the door, chatting away.

Hesitantly, Obi-Wan got closer, intent on asking Rex for a private word. He needed to tell him, might as well get it over with.

After making the decision and slowly walking towards the two, the Force, for some reason, began blaring loudly at him, warning not to say anything.

“—What did you think of the short answer questions, Fett? Bet your truant ass got most of the questions wrong.”

“Shut the kriff up, Tal. I bet I did better than—”

Obi-Wan's mind went blank. He turned and walked away from the two towards the nearest exit.

Rex Fett. Rex's family name was Fett...

He was the person Obi-Wan had heard other students talking about in the rumours. Obi-Wan had been worried that the rumours had been about him, because so many students stopped talking about the rumours when he walked by.

But this proved it. He'd heard those two students in the 'fresher talking about _him_ and Rex.

Not only that, but it was a rumour about him using “mind powers” on another student, forcing him to do something. Obi-Wan's heart sank, he could imagine pretty well what that something could be.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the last couple chapters are so sad, promise things will get better for Obi sometime... soon. :D
> 
> As always love to hear what you think! <3


	6. The Rejection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Wrote the wrong timing on the last chap. Obi was 8 weeks along in it. This one skips through weeks 9 through 15 (out of 56), so at the end of this, he's not quite in his second trimester yet.  
> -There's a flashback in this chapter. Some things are still a bit ambiguous at this point with Rex's past, but slowly I'm going to add in more and more clues and hopefully when everything comes out into the open, you'll have any idea on why Rex acts like he does. There's are reasons Rex acts like he does. It doesn't mean anyone deserves to be on the end of it, but there _are_ reasons.  
> -Also! This chapter is gonna have a lot of time skips. Hold onto your hats peeps, it's about to get _real_ bad, it's gonna start getting better soon, promise!  
> -This chapter was supposed to be up earlier, but I fell asleep on it two nights in a row! It's been a tough week at work. Also, I made sure it was extra long bc I'm not updating tomorrow. But there should be a new chapter on Monday. Hope y'all enjoy.  
> -days of the SW week:  
> Primeday, Centaxday, Taungsday, Zhellday, Benduday
> 
> Translations:  
>  _osik/e_ : dung, poop, impolite (singular/plural)  
>  _di'kut_ : idiot  
>  _ori'vod_ : big brother/sister  
>  _jetii_ : Jedi, singular  
>  _'ika_ : adding it onto the end of a name means "little" like calling Rex, "little Rex"

* * *

The new week dawned and Obi-Wan felt determined to put the sorrow he felt from last week, out of his mind. He'd now finished all his midterms, and that should be celebrated. He was determined this week would be better than the last.

He didn't know how wrong he was.

On Primeday, Obi-Wan was sitting on a bench outside the largest lecture hall in the Humanities and Written Arts building, waiting for a class to get out of the room before his _Justice and Amnesty in the Republic_ class started in it.

The entry hall of the building was shaped like a half-moon, the straight-edge side of the room was filled with large glass doors that faced the centre of campus. There were two bridging hallways connecting the entry hall to other parts of the building at the two corners of the room, where the long, straight wall met the curved sides. On the circular side, entrances to three lecture halls were spaced evenly along the wall, and in between each lecture hall door, the university had placed benches for students to wait between classes or sit and admire the large abstract, metal sculptures placed around the open floor.

So that was what Obi-Wan was doing, sitting admiring the sculptures swooping metal curves, letting his mind gently float on the currents of the Living Force. It felt so happy and vibrant with all the students standing around, chatting, their life forces blurring together.

It was nearing noon, and another student sat down on the other side of the bench from Obi-Wan, as far away as he could get. The other student immediately opened up a container of food they obviously wanted to eat before having to go into their next class.

The container smelt strongly of fish and when the smell hit his nose, Obi-Wan knew he only had seconds before he was about to vomit.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to make it in time to the closest 'fresher , he ran to the nearest garbage bin instead, puking up the few crackers and the cup of tea he'd managed to get down this morning.

“That's nasty,” He heard one of the waiting students say in disgust.

“Someone came to class hung over,” Another laughed.

“Guess even _jetii_ get sick,” joked a third.

Obi-Wan leaned over the bin, his hands clenching the duraplast sides. He tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath, but the smell of his own bile just made him feel sicker and he stepped back.

He felt humiliated.

His shoulders slumped in defeat as he made his way to the closest 'fresher to clean up.

* * *

“—And then he suddenly started puking in a garbage bin!” One of the girls who lived on his dorm floor, was telling her friend.

Rex could hear them giggling and gossiping from where they were sitting in the communal rec room, that was adjacent to the kitchen.

Rex just sighed and rolled his eyes, hoping the heat-emitter would hurry up and finish warming his food. Finally it beeped and he was able to take the container out.

“Hey Fett!” The girl... Suni? No Suna? Called to him as he passed.

“Yeah?” He frowned at her. He had an essay and a six-pack of beer to get back to.

“You know that Jedi kid, right?”

“What of him?” Rex asked, disinterested.

“Well everyone says you kriffed him, but he _made_ you do it, like with his Jedi powers.”

“What the kriff?” Rex said, surprised. “Says who?”

“Everyone,” she said, surprised.

That surprised Rex. Why would everyone think that? His memory was a bit blurry right now, though. He'd already drank two beers tonight and his memory was on that edge of fuzzy that he preferred it to always be.

If he couldn't remember clearly, then he wouldn't have to think about everything... that had happened. Or think about Bo-Katan and Pre ditching his ass. The _osike_.

What was he thinking about? Oh right, sleeping with that _jetii_ kid. Even after all this time he still didn't even know his name.

“Well that never happened,” Rex said with a frown. He did remember joking with Tiber about having sex with him. But he hadn't said... that. Had he? The memory was too fuzzy to remember clearly. He'd have to ask Tiber, later.

“What about him though?” He asked her.

“What?” She frowned back.

“You were gonna tell me something about him.”

“I guess it doesn't matter,” She looked at her friend, who shrugged back.

He held her gaze, looking at her knowing she'd give in if he made her feel uncomfortable. Eventually she did.

“I saw him puking into a garbage bin around lunch today, everyone thought he was hung over or something. Kind of fit with the image everyone's been spreading around about him being quite the partier, and very promiscuous on top of that.”

“Who would he party with?” Rex asked, something niggling at the back of his mind. “I've never seen him at any of the parties. Let alone hanging out with anyone cool on campus.”

Sani? Sanu? shrugged.

Rex left with his food, but something was tugging at the back of his mind, bothering him. He just couldn't figure out what.

* * *

Obi-Wan saw Rex Fett for the first time that week, at their shared class on Taungsday.

Obi-Wan noticed Rex sitting with the other student he'd been talking with the week before.

They sat not too far from Obi-Wan: on the same row, only about three seats away. They came in only a couple minutes before the professor started, so Obi-Wan didn't think much about the fact that they sat so close to him.

Over the next ninety minutes, every once and a while, Obi-Wan could feel eyes on him, watching. Every time he looked over, Rex was staring at him.

It made him feel very uncomfortable.

When the class was over, Obi-Wan made sure to get up and leave before them. He needed to find out why.

* * *

“Why were you staring at me?” The redhead asked him. He was standing out in the hallway, not far from the doors into the lecture hall.

“I'll see you later, Fett,” Tal nodded at him, looking between the two of them with curious eyes. The expression on his friend's face told Rex that he would be hearing about this later.

Rex nodded to his friend and waited until he was out of earshot.

“That's rich, coming from you. The last time I saw you, _you_ couldn't stop staring at _me_.” Rex paused to look at the other man intently, studying his face and tight shoulders. “Besides you...”

“What?” The _jetii_ said self-consciously, folding his arms across his chest, as if that would protect him from Rex's gaze.

Rex shook his head. “You look like you're sick or something.”

“Why do you care? After you spread that rumour about me, I know you don't give a shit about me.”

He turned his head away so he didn't have to look Rex in the eyes, and Rex couldn't help but notice the young man was tearing up.

“Look, I didn't mean to.” Rex said defensively. “I was just joking around with a friend, but someone overheard us and spread it around like it was the truth.”

“Oh, and that takes away all the hurt from what you've done.” The redhead bit at him sarcastically. “Other students on campus won't even speak to me now. Won't even sit by me.”

“Look, I didn't mean to, okay. What do you want me to do? It's done.” Rex said, trying not to let his anger show.

“You could say you're sorry, for starters.” The redhead looked at him incredulously. “And you tell everyone it was a mistake, that it never happened.”

Rex glared, not sure what to say. He wasn't doing that. He had a reputation to upkeep. He wasn't about to go around campus telling everyone to stop spreading rumours about this _jetii_ reject. How did he know the kid was a reject? Something twinged in the back of his memory.

“Hey, Fett!” Fenn Rau called, seeing Rex from down the hall.

Rex turned towards his friend and nodded. He used his friend's appearance as an excuse to walk away from the _jetii_ , not wanting to be a part of this conversation anymore, anyways.

“Coward.” The other young man said lowly, as Rex moved away.

Rex stopped, frozen at that word. He turned back, his anger suddenly roaring through his veins. “What did you call me?” He said through clenched teeth.

“You're nothing but a coward and a bully,” the redhead raised his chin. “I don't know why I ever liked you.”

“Walk away slut,” Rex grit out, barely keeping a handle on his anger, “Before this gets becomes something you can't handle.”

If possible, the redhead's pale face went even paler, and for a moment it looked as if his eyes were wet again with tears, but then he squared his shoulders and walked away.

Rex watched him closely, trying to calm his rage. As he took a few deep breaths, counting slowly, he noticed something odd about how the other man walked.

His stride was lose and graceful, except his hips, they looked like they were moving stiffly, like they were sore.

Maybe he really was a slut. Maybe the whole innocent vibe that night, from what little Rex could remember of it, was just an act.

He heard his friend walk up behind him and turned away from the retreating figure.

* * *

_“You're a coward!” His brother shouted at him and Rex felt like a large, cold stone had dropped into his stomach. “All you care about is yourself! How it effects you!”_

_“Stop,” Jango said forcefully, coming up behind Rex. He'd had a shower and was in hospital scrubs. But there was still a little blood coming out of one of his ears. “I won't tolerate this. Not now.”_

_Rex quickly pushed past his **buir** and then out through the hall and didn't stop until he was in the stairwell._

_He leaned against a wall, trying to catch his breath, but couldn't seem to. It was like he'd run a marathon._

_He finally let himself cry. His breath hiccoughing in his chest._

_He didn't know how long he stood there, sobbing into his hands until he felt someone come up beside him and embrace him. The other person hugged him so very slowly, giving him the chance to pull away if he wanted._

_“Rex'ika,” his **ori'vod** whispered against his ear._

_“He's right, Cody. I am a coward. I refused to see her and she... she... and now Echo. I can't—” Rex choked on his own tears. “And after I said—”_

_“Deep breathes,” Cody whispered into his ear, rubbing his back._

_“What if he...”_

_“None of that. He's going to be fine.”_

_“Promise?” Rex asked naively. If his big brother promised, he would believe it. It didn't matter if he was 9 or 19. Cody was his rock. Cody would make everything alright._

_He knew it was selfish. Cody was upset and mourning too, and all Rex could do was take and take and take._

_“I promise,” Cody said firmly, tightening his arms around him._

_Rex wound his left hand through the hem of Cody's shirt, hanging on for dear life, just like Echo was doing right now._

* * *

The rest of the week passed quickly, and Obi-Wan felt like he was in a daze. Everything just seemed like it was a blur.

It rained again that Benduday, and Obi-Wan found himself looking out the window, wishing he could be out in it, instead of working on his next two assignments.

He was having a hard time concentrating and before long, he gave up entirely.

He hadn't been able to keep down his food lately, and had been supplementing it with instant meal replacement drinks he bought at a local supermarket, and dry crackers. It was a bit more money per meal than the reconstituted noodles, but at least he was able to keep it down.

He was almost out of crackers though, so he decided to walk down to the store.

He put on his only coat and left the building.

* * *

The one thing that surprised him was how _cold_ the rain was. It seeped down the back of his hair and into his collar, making him shiver. He thought his boots would protect his feet from getting wet, but the rain soaked into this leggings, spreading down all the way through to his socks.

This coat was very warm against the chill and wind, but didn't do a lot to keep out the rain, and before long it was heavy and waterlogged.

He stopped at the store and bought the crackers, shivering as he paid. The cashier gave him a pitying look, which made him think he must have resembled more of a drowned MandoRat than a person.

He left the store, and not wanting to return to his cramped room, he headed off down a street that he'd never been down before. And at the end of that street he went down another, and one more after that.

Soon, he didn't think he could figure out which way was north and south. He would probably be able to retrace his steps to find his way home, but he thought maybe if he cut back across this other street it would be a shorter way back to the store he'd been at.

It wasn't a short cut. He was more lost than ever.

But halfway down the street, there was a little diner open, boasting all day lunch specials and 'the best coffee in the galaxy'.

Obi-Wan went in just to ask for directions, but found himself being led to a table by a smiling teen waitress. 

“You're soaked through! What a _di'kut_!” She said with a smile, her turquoise eyes squinting in her mirth, and her red lekku bouncing cheerfully at the good-natured ribbing.

She encouraged him to take off his coat to warm up, and brought him a menu. The air of the diner was warm and the atmosphere cheerful, so he decided to stay for a while, ordering a cup of 'Mando Spice tea' from the menu as a way to prolong this stop.

There were quite a few patrons, scattered about and he was surprised to see how diverse in age and species the customers and staff seemed to be.

It reminded him of the Corps and he relaxed a bit.

That had been a real positive about the Order. He'd been able to get to know and befriend a lot of people from so many different cultures and species. Of course they'd all been Jedi or followed the Force, which meant they always had something in common, something to talk about. But he treasured all his memories of the people he'd met there.

The students on campus weren't quite as diverse as this. And besides, he didn't feel as welcome there as he did here, and these people didn't know him any better than the students on campus did.

Just another day where he felt he'd made the wrong choices. Agricorps hadn't been great, but it had been better than _this_. He tried to ignore the wetness in his eyes, blaming it on how damp he still was from the rain, trying instead to casually study the happy customers.

“Here you are,” his server, who's name tag read 'Aw'Aota', set the tea down in front of him.

The steaming cup looked comforting. “Thank-you.”

“No problemo! What else can I get you?” She asked kindly, a dimple in her right cheek showing itself.

“This is fine.”

“Oh hun,” she said, her brow furrowing. “You're soaked, and look quite peaky besides, you should order some warm food.”

He smiled softly at her. “This is fine.” In reality, he didn't have the money for anything else.

The young woman huffed, turning away and shaking her head, muttering under her breath about idiots.

Obi-Wan sat there, trying to enjoy his tea as slowly as possible. The sky was dark and the tea had long grown cold when he finally left.

* * *

The next three weeks were both more difficult and less so.

He tried to keep his head down on campus, his Force presence in tight, and that seemed to help. No one barely even seemed to realize he was even there.

His nausea was getting worse, and he was losing more weight. There were times when even the crackers and tea, which had seemed to calm it his stomach two weeks ago, didn't help at all anymore. More than a few days saw him lying in bed well after he would have normally gotten up, trying to breathe past that feeling that seemed to consume his whole body. He found it was always worse in the late hours of the evening and the early hours of the morning, so he tried to change his schedule a bit so he would sleep through the worst of it.

It worked to a degree, but that meant he was spending more time in bed than he had been before, which meant he felt listless and lethargic throughout the rest of the day. Just walking to each of his classes during the day, felt like an effort.

He even started catching the hooverbus to and from campus. The winding bus route didn't actually save any time. If anything it added a few more minutes onto his commute, but it meant he didn't have to walk as far.

Everything felt too much, too tiring.

He had a healers appointment the next week: it had been 12 weeks since he'd spent the night with Rex, and 6 weeks he'd seen the healer and found out about his pregnancy. The healer he'd seen had requested he come in for an appointment every five to six weeks, for the time being.

So the next week, he went in to the appointment at the university health clinic. He was glad he didn't have to wait quite as long as last time. Only a few minutes after he'd checked in, he was brought back to another exam room.

When the healer came in, right away she asked him to roll up his sleeve so she could do a quick blood test. She chatted quietly with him, asking him about his diet and exercise, until the reader spat out the results. She seemed really unimpressed with numbers.

“You're slightly anemic,” she said, frowning. “You need to find a way to get more B vitamins into your diet. If you can't get them in your food, you should be taking a supplement daily. Also, I'm not impressed with how much weight you look like you've lost. You're growing another person inside you, you shouldn't be losing this much weight.”

She took him over to the scale to confirm and he tried his best to explain how _bad_ the nausea and vomiting had been.

She listened and wrote down a few notes before giving him some tips that might help with the nausea: little meals more often, foods that soothed his stomach like crackers and ginger, lifting up the head of his bed. She also said she would write him a prescription for a medication that could help.

“I wish you had come in a bit earlier, if the nausea is this bad,” she said in exasperation, typing information into her datapad, “We could have gotten this more in hand and you wouldn't have lost this much weight.”

“Seven kilograms isn't that much. Especially since I've lost some muscle mass.”

“It is with your height and weight, and the fact that you're about 13 weeks along,” she cautioned. “Have you been taking the prenatal vitamins I recommended the last time you were here?” She asked.

He nodded, “But sometimes I throw them up, not long after I take them.”

She sighed and printed out a script for the prescription. “Do your best to take them everyday, and if you expel them within half an hour after taking them, take them again.”

She handed him the script and told him how often to take it.

After that, she tried to shake off some of her worry and be a bit more positive. She talked about how his baby was starting to develop it's muscles and would be moving it's little arms and legs inside him. By this time in his pregnancy, she told him, his baby was just over two centimetres long and all of their essential organs were developing.

As the appointment was drawing to a close, she asked him if he had any questions.

When he shook his head, she spoke again.

“One last thing, before you go,” she smiled sadly. “We haven't really talked at all about how you're doing emotionally.”

There was a long pause where she waited for him to speak, and he just shrugged, twisting has hands, nervously. He didn't want to talk about it.

She tried again. “Being pregnant can be stressful, especially if it's unexpected. It is understandable if you're having trouble coping. I'm happy to listen to anything you have to say during our appointments, and there's a few services I can recommend you to.”

“Like a mind healer?” Obi-Wan asked with a frown.

“If you'd like.”

“No, I'm fine.” He remembered the Corps members who went to see mind healers. Most of them never came back. He had only known one who had, and she'd been very quiet and withdrawn afterwards. He'd cope how he always coped. Trying his best to not think about it, and meditating and releasing emotions and thoughts into the Force when they got too much.

“Alright. Something else then. How did the father react when you told him?”

“I--I haven't yet.” Obi-Wan admitted hesitantly.

“You really should as soon as possible. It won't get any easier with time. And Mandalorian law says that the birth of any child born in the sector is notified to the clan after birth. It might seem harsh, but it helps keep numbers of wards of the state lower than other sectors.” Her expression told him she didn't seem all that convinced the law was a good thing. “So it's better to tell him now so it isn't a surprise.”

He nodded and sat quietly as she wished him a good day and left for her next appointment.

 _Guess I need to talk to Rex soon,_ he thought sourly. He hadn't meant to put it off, it had just been easier to not approach the harsh Mandalorian.

* * *

The next week, on Taungsday, when Obi-Wan saw Rex sitting again with his friend in their shared class, he decided he would tell him after the lecture was over.

After making the decision, Obi-Wan felt as if the sloshing nausea in his stomach increased and he had a hard time concentrating on what the professor was speaking about.

He still took notes on what the professor had up on the large holoscreen, but the lecture went in one ear and out the other. He could change his mind and put off telling Rex for another week, but there was only six weeks of class left before exams started and the other young man didn't always show up to all the lectures. On top of which, he'd rather tell the Mandalorian now, so he didn't have it weighing anxiously on his mind while he began to prepare for exams. It would be best to just get it over with.

After the lecture finished, Obi-Wan quickly packed up and waited for Rex again in the hallway. The other young man seemed to spend a bit of time packing up and talking to his friend before heading out, so Obi-Wan had almost ten minutes of anxious waiting before the two of them left the lecture hall.

“Rex,” he called softly, trying to attract his attention. He supposed he should be calling the other boy by his last name, after all they weren't friends, but for a long time all he'd known him by was Rex. It wasn't easy to make the name change in his head.

* * *

“What do you want, uh, what's your name?” Rex approached the young man after saying goodbye to Tal.

“Obi-Wan? Kenobi?” The _jetii_ frowned. “We spoke just—”

“Yeah, I remember. I'll say again, what do you want?” Rex crossed his arms, a bit pissed that he was being stopped by this kid again. Kriff, the boy seemed like he was obsessed with Rex.

“There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just go straight in.”

Rex was surprised to see the young man wipe his hands on his leggings, like they were wet with sweat.

“That night we were together, we... we didn't use anything.” He gestured with his hand between them. “And well, I'm pregnant.”

“You're what?!” _This couldn't be happening. Some drunken fumble with this kriffing **jetii** and now he was gonna be a father?! How could this have happened to him? This was just his luck, everything bad that could happen to him, always did._ “Well kriffing get rid of it!”

The nervous, waiting expression on the redhead's face fell. He looked away, horrified.

For a second the _jetii_ was quiet, and then turned back, face now angry. “That would be killing a living being. I can feel it's heartbeat in the Force. I would never do that.” His shoulder set stubbornly. “I didn't do this by myself! But if you can't even handle the responsibility of admitting your choices have made a life, then you don't have to be involved.”

“I didn't choose this!” Rex stepped forward and shouted into his face.

“Tough!” Obi-Wan shouted back. “You came on to me, _you_ insisted we have sex, and now you have to face the consequences.”

“Like I would have even made that decision if I had been in full control of myself.” Rex bit back. 

The _jetii_ 's sickly-pale face went even paler. “You—you mean...? No,” he shook his head. “You wanted to have sex. You asked so many times. You _insisted_ , and at first you did seem a bit intoxicated, but when I finally said yes, you seemed completely capable of making that choice. You, you were sober.” He looked like he was going to puke.

“Well I guess all those rumours about you are true,” Rex said nastily. His heart was beating heavily in his chest. It was like he couldn't stop lashing out, even if he knew he wasn't being completely honest.

 _Maybe_ he hadn't been sober enough to make the choice, _maybe_ he had been. But he would have made the same choice sober. The redhead had been hot and no one had been around to see Rex come on to him. Sex was fun, and a good distraction. Even with all this anger between them, if the _jetii_ seemed at all interested in going again, Rex totally would.

The kid took a gulping breath and took a step back. “I'm sorry. I really did think that you... I understand if you don't want anything to do with me,” the redhead's eyes filled with tears. “But there's still a baby and I...” He looked away. “Would you ever be able to forgive me?”

 _Yes_ , Rex thought. “No,” Rex said aloud, his anger surging. He almost felt like he was out of control, like nothing that came out of his mouth was what he wanted to say. He needed a drink so bad.

The kid nodded and took another step away. “I'm sorry.”

The kid turned and walked away and Rex stood there, wondering why he'd said that. He tried to calm himself, breathing deeply. He could still smell the _jetii_ : a faint hint of laundry detergent and vomit lingering in the air.

Kriff.

* * *

The next three weeks passed pretty idyllically for Rex, at least it seemed that way from the outside. His classes were going better now that he was going to almost all of them and actually doing his homework and studying.

His few close friends, like Tiber and Fenn were funny and supportive. He remained quite popular on campus, invited to all the best parties. His relationship with his ori'vod was better than it had been in years, though he still had no contact with his other brothers, and only talked to his father enough to placate him into sending Rex money.

His classes were all winding down for the semester. Exams and Life Day break were finally in sight.

But inside, Rex was in turmoil. He couldn't stop thinking about the _jetii_ —Obi-Wan he'd said his name was.

He remembered the haunted look on the kid's face when he'd accused him of taking advantage of Rex. Maybe what had happened between them that drunken night would effect Rex later, maybe it wouldn't, but right now he didn't give a kriff. No, he'd had way worse things happen to him that haunted him. Even the look on the kid's face haunted him more than that night.

He should apologize. The thought was a bit shocking. In the past, he had wanted to apologize for a lot of things he'd done and said in the last year; hell, the last couple years. And yet those urges had always been faint enough, far away enough, in the back of his mind that he could dismiss them easily. He could forget them. 

This urge to apologize would not be forgotten. It was always there, in the back of his mind.

It didn't help that since the confrontation with the _jetii_ kid, he'd seen Obi-Wan _everywhere_ on campus. Every time he saw the kid, Rex did his absolute best to not be seen in return.

If he wanted to get snacks for a party at the campus retail store, the redhead was there filling a prescription at the in-store campus pharmacy. If he went with a group to go study in one of the library's breakout rooms? The redhead was in nearby stacks, looking at books. If he actually went to his morning classes? The redhead was sitting on a bench in front of a nearby lecture hall, waiting for another class to finish. And if he wanted to get breakfast with his friends at the dining hall near the bus loop? The redhead was getting off a bus, going to his morning classes.

Rex knew that the campus wasn't that big, especially if you spent every day on it. But it suddenly felt tiny, as if he was bumping into the _jetii_ kid everywhere.

It was like he couldn't turn around, or even breathe without seeing Obi-Wan. And it was kriffing driving Rex up the wall.

The times when he'd seen the _jetii_ recently, Rex found himself having a more difficult time concentrating in his classes, he found himself snapping more at his friends, he even found he was less hungry.

The kid seemed lost in his own thoughts though, never noticing Rex. If anything, Rex noticed the kid didn't seem to pay much attention to anyone, or even interact with his surroundings at all.

He'd never seen the _jetii_ talking to anyone. He'd never seen him in a group or even studying with others. He probably would have wondered about that more, but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself for feeling so guilty.

Kriff, he was going to have to do something, wasn't he. Because he couldn't stand seeing that sad, downturned face all over campus, and the resulting guilt he felt.

He didn't know what he was going to do, just that he had to do something.

* * *


	7. The Relocation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Happy New Years, everyone! Let's all help to make 2021 less of a train wreck than 2020 was. :D  
> -This chapter skips through pregnancy weeks 16 through 19 (out of 56), so Obi is now officially into his second trimester. That little baby tummy is gonna start popping! :D  
> -We're seeing some serious changes here. Rex is definitely not going to change completely overnight, but he's taking a baby step in the right direction.
> 
> Extra info for this chapter:  
> -a little Mandalore sector geography for you: Keldabe is the capital city of the planet Mandalore (often referred to as Manda'yaim. In this AU, the University of Mandalore is in Keldabe). Kalevala is another planet in the Mandalore (solar) system, alongside Manda'yaim and the moon Concordia. In Canon, by the time the Clone Wars have broken out, the New Mandalorians moved the capital city of Manda'yaim to Sundari, but as the New Mandalorians never took power in this AU, the capital is still Keldabe.  
> -apparently I've been jossed by Star Wars. In this fic, I had the winter holidays called “solstice day” and in another fic I've been writing, I called birthdays “life day” because that just made more sense in my mind. But the Lego Star Wars Holiday special that Disney just released called winter holidays “life day”, and in Rebels birthdays were just called birthdays. So now I've got some retcon to do, lol. Disregard any mention of “solstice day” I might have made in the past, I have now edited past instances to say “life day”.  
> -Lastly, let me know if you have any questions about university examinations or anything going on in this fic. I originally wrote a huge explanation about the types and ways different universities in North America administer exams bc I've been to three different universities so I have a pretty clear picture of it, but then I realized this might not be necessary, so took it out. :)
> 
> Translations:  
>  _Jate'shya gar_ : lit. Better you. As in “Better you than me!” (I made this up to correspond to a English colloquialism, lol.)  
>  _buir_ : parent, singular  
>  _vod_ : brother/sister  
>  _jetii_ : Jedi, singular  
>  _Ret_ : bye, informal

Previously:  
_Rex had never seen the jetii talking to anyone. He'd never seen him in a group or even studying with others. He probably would have wondered about that more, but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself for feeling so guilty._

_Kriff, he was going to have to do something, wasn't he. Because he couldn't stand seeing that sad, downturned face all over campus, and the resulting guilt he felt._

_He didn't know what he was going to do, just that he had to do **something**._

* * *

Campus was finishing it's last week of classes before exams would start, when Rex was finally able to catch up the _jetii_ kid.

On Primeday, Rex actually went to his early morning Mandalorian Military History class, with the intent to catch Obi-Wan after class. But the _jetii_ never showed. That was strange to Rex, all this time he'd thought the kid went to every single one of his classes. At least he'd always been in them when Rex had thought to look for him. But to be fair, Rex only shared the one class with him.

He would have to try again another day.

On Centaxday Rex saw the redhead in the hallway of the Writing Arts building and had tried to catch up with him. Rex had been taking the long way to his class, as a way to delay getting there too early. He hated getting to class early.

As he wound through the Writing Arts building, he'd seen the redhead at the end of the hallway. So he'd quickened his pace to try to catch him. But a couple of lectures were just letting out, and the _jetii_ was soon lost in the crowd. It hadn't helped that Tal Merrik had come up behind him, having just left a lecture hall, and grabbed his shoulder seeming eager to talk to him.

It had taken a while to shake Tal and when he had, the _jetii_ was no where to be seen.

On Taungsday morning, Rex went to their shared class early, hoping Obi-Wan would be early too and they could talk. He'd noticed in the past that the _jetii_ often seemed to be early to class. And while the _jetii_ did eventually show up to class, he came in a few minutes late and sat at the back, right by the door.

When the lecture ended, Rex grabbed his bag and raced after the redhead, who had pretty quickly disappeared out the door.

“Fett! Hey, where are you going?” Tal called behind him, from where he had been sitting beside Rex.

But Rex ignored him and raced after the redhead.

He saw him disappear around a corner when he got out of the hall and raced to catch up. At least the _jetii_ was moving pretty slow, so Rex was able to catch him before he left the building.

“Obi-Wan,” Rex said, panting, putting a hand on the other man's shoulder to stop him.

The redhead jerked his shoulder away as if it had been burned and turned to face him, his complexion pale and his blue eyes huge and sad.

“I'm—I'm,” Rex wheezed. “I wanted to say I'm sorry. About what I said. I didn't mean it.”

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed, his brow crinkled in confusion. “I think you were pretty clear about what you meant. I'm surprised you haven't had me arrested.”

“I—I was wrong. What happened between us, I wanted it. And I'm sorry if what I implied hurt you.” Rex said seriously.

“What you implied?!” Obi-Wan said, anger slowly creeping over his expression. “You said I raped you. As I said, I'm surprised I haven't been arrested.”

“Look, I know I'm—”

“You're an asshole. I didn't enjoy what happened between us, but I thought at least we both agreed to it,” Obi-Wan said bitingly.

“You didn't enjoy it?” Rex said, confused. His partners usually seemed to enjoy themselves.

“Mostly it was just painful for me,” the _jetii_ said, hugging himself.

“Fuck,” Rex said in surprise. There were moments he thought he remembered bits and pieces of what happened. One thing he didn't remember was the other man being in pain. Most of what he remembered from that night was his own pleasure. And he could be honest that he had mostly been focused on his own pleasure, anyways.

“It shouldn’t be painful. Maybe we could try again? I could show you how nice it can feel,” Rex smiled charmingly and reached out with his hand to pat the other's shoulder. He did enjoy sex, and the redhead was pretty cute.

“No!” Obi-Wan jerked away from him. “What's wrong with you. You just finished apologizing for accusing me of raping you,” he hissed quietly.

“Well _sorry_! I was trying to find the lighter side of life,” Rex sneered back.

Obi-Wan's mouth dropped open in shock and disgust. “Holy Force, what is wrong with you.”

“Shut up!” Rex said, feeling his anger build. “I didn't want a kid and now we're having one, and it has to be with _you_?! I was just looking to find a gain from this whole situation.”

“I'm sorry our bad choices have left you with such a burden,” Obi-Wan's eyes were filling with tears. “Maybe it's just the universe's way of telling you what a selfish jerk you are!”

“Shut _up_!” Rex roared and smacked the other man's upper arm with the back of his hand.

Obi-Wan's face twisted and he shoved at Rex with both his hands.

Rex staggered back, but didn't fall over. “Why you little fucker,” he balled up his fist and prepared to swing it.

He saw the other flinch and paused long enough to realize what he was about to do.

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself. He'd let his anger escalate too far.

“And you wonder why I wouldn't ever want to be with you again?” The _jetii_ choked out, his voice weak and afraid, but his chin lifted in defiance.

Rex just stared as the other young man turned and ran away.

 _Damn_ , Rex thought to himself, _I can't believe I did that. I could really use a drink right about now._

After the _jetti_ was no longer in sight, Rex turned away and realized the entrance hall was quite busy still, and there were four nearby waiting students who were watching him with shocked faces.

Rex decided he probably better get out of there quickly, before Campus Security showed up.

* * *

Despite the fact that Obi-Wan was on his mind constantly, Rex spent the next week studying as hard as he could. He knew he'd fucked up big, this time, and neither his _buir_ nor his _ori'vod_ were around to save him. But despite his mistakes, he knew he had to continue on until he had the chance to apologize properly to Obi-Wan. And that meant passing all his stupid classes.

For a while he even considered easing back on the alcohol. He was only having five or six beers on school nights, so it shouldn't matter that much if he cut down, but in the end he decided everything was a bit easier with the alcohol, so he continued drinking.

It helped with the guilt too.

By the end of the week, classes had finished and exam break had started. That meant he only had a couple weeks left until he had to return to the family compound for Life Day break. He'd really rather not see his brothers or his buir right now, let alone his extended family. He had enough to deal with, and he barely felt like he was hanging on as it was.

Not that he could just skip out of family Life Day celebrations and hope there wouldn't be any consequences. He couldn't imagine his _buir_ would be happy to continue paying for his school if he didn't at least show his face.

But he'd still rather avoid his family as much as he could. He didn't want to relive all of _that_ pain again so soon. He knew he would have to sometime though, so it might as well be during Life Day when his family were more distracted by the celebrations.

And if he was honest with himself, while he didn't want to see them, he also didn't want to be alone on the holiday...

Not again.

* * *

The morning of his Mandalorian Military History exam dawned cold and wet, two weeks later.

As luck would have it, he had already finished his other five exams, and this was his last one. That meant in under four hours he would be on his way out of Keldabe, to spend Life Day break with his family.

He was dreading going home more than he was dreading this exam. And this was the class he'd slacked off the most in, over the semester.

He'd been so anxious about leaving that he'd drunk a bit _too_ much the night before and now was paying for it this morning. His head _ached_.

He stumbled around his room, looking for a clean pair of socks that he hadn't already packed in his travel bag. Once he was finally dressed, had a pencil and a water bottle, he set off towards the school's Kinesiology building where all the testing was held in the large, open, convertible spaces usually used for sporting events.

Rex got to the largest gym, which had been converted testing room A, just as the test administrators were beginning to let students in. He found the section where his class's exams were laid out and picked a desk near the back of the row.

Students filed in and filled in empty desks and the administrators reminded students of what was and wasn't allowed on their desks during exams. Once everyone had been seated, an administrator came around to pass out test booklets while students filled in their names and student ident numbers on the answer sheets.

“Kid,” one of the administrators said as they handed him a booklet containing the test questions, “No dark glasses are allowed on during the test.”

Rex groaned, but dutifully took them off and put them in his pocket. His eyes ached from the harsh, florescent lights of the room. But he would get through it.

Rex settled in and opened his booklet. Hopefully the test wouldn't be too difficult.

* * *

After he'd finished his test and checked it over, he was about to get out of his chair and hand in his answer sheet, when his eyes caught on a familiar redhead sitting near the front of the room.

Rex hadn't seen him since their last confrontation, and he still felt bad he'd let his temper get away from him. He'd tried to apologize that day, but had ended up getting into a fight with the redhead instead.

There was just something about that defiant chin and sarcastic tone that seemed to set Rex off. Obi-Wan wasn't the first person to suffer because of Rex's bad temper, and he probably wouldn't be the last.

The problem was, Rex didn't _used_ to be so angry. But he was angry now all the time. It took little to set him off, and he knew it. He also didn't know _what_ to do about it.

It was true that he came from a family of hotheads. Just meeting Jango Fett for the first time would make anyone understand where his temper might have come from. The problem was... he'd been such a happy, loving child.

So where had he gone wrong? And why had he been so cruel to a complete stranger?

Rex really did want to apologize. He wanted to make things right, he just wasn't sure how.

So instead of getting up and handing in his test, he pretended to go back over his test answers again, making sure to keep Obi-Wan in the corner of his eye.

For the next twenty minutes he waited, until the former _jetii_ got out of his seat and handed in his test.

As he made his way to the door, Rex also got up and handed in his test.

At first, Rex had meant to catch the redhead before he got on the bus. But when he walked right by the bus loop and instead headed off campus on a walking path, Rex followed.

Maybe this would give him time to think of what to say; time to figure out how to apologize in a convincing way.

He followed Obi-Wan down one street and up another, across a few blocks, across a busy street and up a few side streets. At first he couldn't figure out where the other young man was going. Why was he walking so far from campus? But then it hit Rex.

He remembered waking up in the other young man's room and having to make the long trek back from campus, even though he'd been hung over! The kid lived ridiculously far from campus. And really not in a good area.

A few more details filtered through Rex's mind. The streets had been warm when Obi-Wan had found him that night. He'd wandered away from his friends and the pub they'd been in and ended up getting lost. For a while after that, it was blurrier. But he remembered trying to find his way back home and then he had been sick against the side of a building. From there Obi-Wan had found him and offered to take him back to campus.

He couldn't remember why they'd ended up going up to Obi-Wan's room instead though, but he did remember walking up a lot of stairs and puking up a lot of liquid into the redhead's toilet. Really he was lucky that he hadn't gotten alcohol poisoning from how much he'd drank that night.

The room Obi-Wan had brought him to had seemed to tiny and pathetic in his memories, even blurry as they were. Rex hoped the other kid didn't actually live somewhere that bad. That would be utterly depressing.

It wasn't long before Rex had followed Obi-Wan all the way to the front of a building, where Obi-Wan was walking up the front steps to it's entrance. Rex still hadn't thought of any good way to apologize to the other man. But he really couldn't wait much longer. He needed to say something now so he could get back to campus and collect his luggage for his hop home.

Taking a deep breath, he hurried towards the other man before he could disappear into the building.

“Obi-Wan,” he called and the redhead froze on the last step.

The other man turned slowly, his face slack with shock. “What are you doing here Rex... I mean Fett?”

Rex slowed his pace, taking his time walking up the steps. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what to say. “Can we talk? I really want to apologize for everything I've said and done. For yesterday and... well, just for everything.” He tried to widen his eyes and put on his best expression of sincerity.

“Well... I, I guess.” Obi-Wan said quietly, chewing on his bottom lip.

“I've been—” Rex started, but he was interrupted by the building door opening and out walking a very smelly and dirty Arkanian who belched and swayed slightly. “Could we go inside, maybe?”

Obi-Wan's gaze shifted between Rex and the Arkanian and he nodded, hesitantly. He turned and opened the door, leading Rex inside.

 _Now_ Rex realized why he remembered the stairs so vividly, they were incredibly steep. The two of them ended up trekking three floors up before walking down a dark hallway to Obi-Wan's door. Rex was more than a little out of breath by the time they arrived and Obi-Wan dug out his keys.

Rex hadn't realized how out of shape he'd let himself get. His _ori'vod_ would kill him if he knew.

Obi-Wan let him into his room nervously, closing the door and locking it behind Rex. At Rex's raised eyebrow, Obi-Wan shrugged. “There isn't the best of tenants here.”

There didn't seem to be the best of anything here. The tiny, broken-down room of Rex's hazy memories was way better than the reality before him.

The flooring was scuffed and broken, the wallpaper, curtains and fixtures stained beyond being able to tell what color any of them were. Obi-Wan had obviously tried his best to clean the place. But washing and putting a bow on a dead MandoRat didn't do much to hide the fact that it was still a dead rat.

“What did you want to talk about?” Obi-Wan sat on the bed and crossed his arms in front of him nervously.

The redhead's tunic had ridden up slightly at the movement, and with the bottom missing buttons off his coat, Rex could see a small curve to the redhead's once flat abdomen. It made his gut clench in realization. This man was having a baby. _Rex's_ baby. Oh kriff.

“I wanted to apologize, truly.” Rex said, his throat felt dry and clogged and he tried to swallow away the feeling. “My behavior has been unacceptable. I am sorry. I want to help you. Just as you said the last time we actually... talked, it _is_ my responsibility too.” He looked pointedly down at the curve of Obi-Wan's belly.

Rex was a bit shocked when Obi-Wan's face crumpled and he began to cry. At first it was just little sniffling tears, but soon it had graduated into sobs. Obi-Wan covered his face with his hands, his cheeks red with shame and tears.

For a few seconds Rex felt frozen to the spot, not sure what to do. But then he remembered, years ago, finding Boba crying and how his little brother would curl up in his arms as Rex held him through it. Sometimes actions were stronger than words, and Rex had to remember that.

He approached the other man cautiously and sat beside him, bringing his arm up around his shoulders.

At first Obi-Wan turned away, indicating he didn't want the contact, but Rex tightened his arm and Obi-Wan collapsed against him.

When the _jetii_ was finally able to calm himself, he pulled away and tried to wipe his tears with the edges of his dirty coat. “Sorry.”

“No, it's okay,” Rex said softly, touching the wet spot on his shirt reverently. It had been a while since anyone had shown him that level of vulnerability, and he'd been a complete asshole to this guy. Rex couldn't imagine how bad things were for the _jetii_ if he were turning to _Rex_ for comfort.

They both sat quietly on the bed for a while, the only sound in the room someone far away, noisily banging down the building's stairs.

Rex was unsure of what to say or do, and the redhead's face was turned away from him, so he had no visual clues. But he felt incredibly awkward in the silence and finally blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Why do you live in a dump like this?” Rex asked. He was a bit revolted at the squalor of the room. Distantly, he knew his family was pretty well off, but he'd never been somewhere like this before.

Obi-Wan turned to him, raising his eyebrow. “I don't have much money. I have to get by on what little I have saved and tuition is expensive.”

Rex wouldn't know, he'd never had to pay for tuition before. Or for his dorm expenses, or for his own food, or for his comm plan, or for clothes, or anything really. The only money he spent was when he wanted to go out with friends, or any small extra expenses like alcohol. Even for those, he was given an allowance from his father. Not that it ever seemed like enough.

The idea of his child being born and living the beginning of it's life here was kind of horrifying.

“How long would it take you to pack all your things?” Rex said impulsively. He had no idea what to do, but his _buir_ would.

“What?” Obi-Wan said incredulously.

“I don't want you living here anymore,” Rex said firmly. That was kind of a lie. It was a gross place to live, but he didn't really want to care where the _jetii_ himself lived. Mandalorians cared about family though, and the redhead was having his kid. So that meant he _had_ to care where the _jetii_ lived.

The idea that Rex was having a kid was terrifying! And while he wasn't sure he wanted the kid, but he knew he wouldn't want it living _here_. In this dump of an apartment, surrounded by the dregs of Keldabe. He also knew he wanted the child well cared for. His _buir_ would be able to help with both of those things. So that meant the _jetii_ was coming home with him for the Life Day break.

“I don't have anywhere else to go,” the _jetii_ said idiotically. Hadn't Rex said he'd help? Wasn't the kid listening?

“I told you I'd help. Now pack your things. I need to go back to campus and collect my luggage.” _And buy another ticket_ , he thought, already mourning the pocket money he'd have to spend. “I'll be back in just over an hour to pick you up.”

“I can't just up and leave, I would have to pack, clean and get my damage deposit back from the landlord. Don't forget I have to pay rent next month! I have a _lease_ , Fett!”

Maybe he needed to bump the tickets to a later time then. “Don't worry about that part, I'll handle it.” He waved his hand at the redhead confidently. “Just get packed. I'll come back and help you with whatever you don't have finished.” _More like he'd help by throwing everything away_ , he thought, looking around at the _jetii_ 's cheap possessions.

He stood from the bed and made his way over to the door, not noticing the look of confused incredulity the other man was giving him. He unlocked the door and left the room with the air of someone who was used to being obeyed. He didn't even looking back to see if the _jetii_ would comply.

As soon as he was out of the door of the run-down apartment, he was on his comm, calling for a cab. He had things to do and he didn't have time to take the thirty minute walk back to campus.

* * *

Rex walked into his dorm room, deep in thought. Dirty clothes were scattered across the floor and the bed was still unmade, just as he'd left it that morning. He began to dial a less used number on his comm, absently dumping the clothes in the dirty laundry bin and making the bed as the comm rang through.

“What.” A familiar voice on the other end answered with concise impatience.

And _this_ was why Rex had phoned his cousin instead of anyone else back home. “Wolffe. I need you to pick me up tonight at the domestic spaceport at 1900.”

The line cut as his cousin hung up on him.

Rex rolled his eyes and called back again. “Come on, Wolffe.” Rex whined when his cousin picked up for the second time. “I know you're not doing anything tonight that you couldn't get out of. It might even be something you wish you _had_ an excuse to get out of.”

“Who says I'm even on world right now.”

“Jango told me you were landing on Kalevala yesterday,” Rex smirked, glad the call was voice only.

Wolffe cursed lowly. “You're father is a menace.”

“Try telling Cody that. Now, can you come pick me up in your speeder or not?”

“Why not take the community shuttle?”

“It's last run ends at 1800 on the week leading up to Life Day, otherwise I would have and never had to trouble you.” It was what he'd originally planned, but the next hop from Keldabe to Kalevala didn't board until 1530. So by the time they would land tonight, they would have missed the last shuttle.

Wolffe sighed. “Fine, but you owe me one Rex'ika.”

Rex rolled his eyes at the diminutive said with utter contempt. “Fine by me.”

The comm hung up without a goodbye and Rex sat staring at his luggage for a moment when a knock shook him out of his head space.

“Rex,” Tiber said, standing on the other side of the door when Rex opened it. “I thought you would have already left for the hols, but one of the chicks from your floor said she saw you heading for your room. You not going home this year?”

Rex shrugged and backed away so his friend could come in. “Nah, I am. Just had to move my ticket a bit later time. You haven't left yet?”

“Waiting for Gar to finish his last exams. They're not until Primeday,” his friend shrugged.

“Poor sucker. Isn't that the last day of exams? So you gotta wait three more days?”

His friend laughed, “Gotta be proud of a brother that has some of the worst luck in our sector. I just hope I can keep him from doing any gambling until he isn't my responsibility anymore. He's great in a fight, but has lousy luck.”

“ _Jate'shya gar_ ,” Rex smirked and clapped his friend on the shoulder. _Better you than me._

“So listen, a couple of us still left are gonna head out for the night and grab a drink off campus. You in?”

Rex's head pounded at the thought of a drink. He hadn't had any alcohol yet today and his head was still hurting from his hangover. Surely a beer would help him feel a bit better. Easy the symptoms a bit. And he had enough time.

But then he thought back to the sad little _jetii_ , sitting in that decrepit room, the softest curve to his stomach peaking out from beneath that dreadful coat. Rex had left saying he'd be back to help the redhead get out of his lease and pack up the last of his things. So it would probably be a bad idea to go off with his friends, even if they would have an hour or two before their flight boarded.

“I'm gonna have to pass this time,” Rex said mournfully, trying to ignore how his hand was shaking just a bit. Whether it was from the hangover, from not drinking anything yet today, or from the thought of taking the stupid _jetii_ home to meet his family, he wasn't sure and didn't want to know.

“Alright, well if you change your mind...?” Tiber waggled his eyebrow, “You know how to get a hold of me.”

“Cheers,” Rex smiled and leaned in to give his friend a one-armed hug. “Have a good Life Day.”

“You too.” Tiber smiled sadly. “ _Ret_ Rex. I hope you and your family work through everything.”

Rex turned away, pretending not to have heard him, ignoring the lump in his throat. “Thanks.”

He waited until the door closed behind his friend before he grabbed his ident cards and his luggage and left the dorm.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love to hear your thoughts on this chapter!  
> (Also, anyone else as excited as I am for Obi to start meeting the Fetts!?! :D)


	8. The Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Obi is 20 weeks into his pregnancy in this chapter (out of 56. First trimester is 1-18, second is 19-36, last trimester is 37-56.)
> 
> -okay peeps, so this took me _forever_ to edit. I wrote this chapter AND the next in less than a week, and it's taken me almost 2 weeks now to edit it, and I know I've _still_ missed some things. So if you are at all interested in editing/beta'ing, please let me know here in the comments, or on my tumblr (through private messaging or my ask box). That said, hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> Translations:  
>  _jetii_ : Jedi, singular  
>  _buir/buire_ : parent, singular/plural  
>  _tihaar_ : alcoholic drink - strong clear spirit made from fruit, like eau de vie  
>  _shig_ : Mandalore's answer to tea. An infusion beverage of whatever's available, but usually a mildly stimulant herb with a citrus flavor called behot.  
>  _Haat Mando'ade_ : True Mandalorians  
>  _Manda'yaim_ : the planet Mandalore  
>  _Ka'ra_ : the stars / the mythological ruling council of fallen kings  
>  _besom_ : ill-mannered lout, unhygienic person, someone with no manners (in Mandalorian terms)  
>  _Ke'mot!_ : Halt, stop  
>  _verd'goten_ : the rite of passage for a Mandalorian youngling as they become an adult at 13. Often this includes military training or survival skills taught by their buire.  
>  _Mern_ : the 17th letter in the Aurebesh alphabet, stands for the sound “M”.
> 
>  _Signing “power of attorney”_ : In this universe, I'm saying that if you sign for someone else you would need to write “power of attorney” before your name to indicate you're signing on behalf of someone else. Since Rex ends up claiming Obi-Wan as part of his family, this _would_ hold up in a court on Mandalore. Probably though, he should have gotten legal authority to do this, he doesn't care enough to think about this here, but that would have been the right way to go about it. In our world, this is actually a thing you can do! From my reading though, I believe in English speaking North America, you need to write “p.p.” before your name (for per procurationem). Also, I'm also pretty sure you have to have some pretty specific notary-stamped paperwork to do this, so don't just try doing it willy-nilly, lol.

* * *

Previously:

_The idea that Rex was having a kid was terrifying! And while he wasn't sure he wanted the kid, but he knew he wouldn't want it living **here**. In this dump of an apartment, surrounded by the dregs of Keldabe. He also knew he wanted the child well cared for. His **buir** would be able to help with both of those things. So that meant the **jetii** was coming home with him for the Life Day break._

_“I don't have anywhere else to go,” the **jetii** said idiotically. Hadn't Rex said he'd help? Wasn't the kid listening?_

_“I told you I'd help. Now pack your things. I need to go back to campus and collect my luggage.” **And buy another ticket** , he thought, already mourning the pocket money he'd have to spend. “I'll be back in just over an hour to pick you up.”_

_“I can't just up and leave, I would have to pack, clean and get my damage deposit back from the landlord. Don't forget I have to pay rent next month! I have a **lease** , Fett!”_

_Maybe he needed to bump the tickets to a later time then. “Don't worry about that part, I'll handle it.” He waved his hand at the redhead confidently. “Just get packed. I'll come back and help you with whatever you don't have finished.”_

_He unlocked the door and left the room with the air of someone who was used to being obeyed. He didn't even looking back to see if the jetii would comply._

* * *

Obi-Wan watched as Rex walked out of his apartment door, in shock. The Mandalorian had been abrupt and rude, seeming to expect Obi-Wan to do everything he asked.

The worst part of all of this was that he had no idea what Rex had in mind when he said he was going to take Obi-Wan home to see his _buir_.

But even despite not knowing what was going to happen if he left with Rex, the reality was that anything would probably be better than his current circumstances. He was struggling through all the worries about money and school and the constant state of almost starvation he had been living in. He _needed_ a change.

The morning sickness hadn't been helping, but his quickly diminishing funds and his anxiety about how he was going to care for this child were much worse than his bad nutritional situation. Not that it helped. Feeling hungry all the time from being unable to keep a lot down was horrible, but there were worse things about his situation.

As it was, he had been vacillating back and forth for the last three weeks about giving the child up, or quitting school altogether to find work. But if he quit school completely, he would lose his sponsoring visa, and then he would most likely be deported from Mandalore. And because of his former Jedi status, the only planet he was really welcome on was Coruscant.

He knew deep in his heart that if he had to move back to Coruscant, he would just end up lost in the dregs of the lower levels with nothing to his name and no where to call home. At least Keldabe itself was a beautiful, clean and mostly safe city. He even felt safer here in this scuzzy, beaten-down, rented room than he ever had on the lower levels of Coruscant. Not that he'd spent that much time there or knew that part of Coruscant well.

The reality was, there was nothing good in his life right now. And Rex was offering him some way out. How or what that entailed, Obi-Wan didn't know, but it wasn't worth sticking around here and possibly missing the help he had been praying desperately to the Force for.

So taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan stood, firm in his decision to go with Rex.

Obi-Wan got out the three large beaten-up carrier-bags, that he used as luggage. Each was made out of cheap, heavy fiberplast, that was both durable but ugly. He'd brought all three of them with him to Mandalore from his last Agricorps assignment on Balosar, but only two had been filled at the time. 

Now he looked at all the small detritus gained from living on his own and he realized he didn't want to take any of it with him. Maybe he should just leave with the same things he'd brought with him... Was there even anything to show for the last four months of his life?

So he wouldn't take any of the dishes, packaged food or cleaning products that he'd bought. But he hesitated in throwing any of it away, he was sure whatever tenant lived here next would use it.

There was only one thing that made him hesitate in leaving everything but his personal effects behind. What if going with Rex didn't solve any of his problems, and he found himself back where he started? He would be alone and without a place to live or any of the dishes, food or cleaners he'd left? Then he would have to buy them all over again, and his funds were already severely depleted.

He sat on the bed, heavily, curling up into lotus position. He let himself drop into a light meditative state. The Force embraced him, calming his nerves and caressing him in a way that made him feel more confident in his decision.

He had no idea what was in store for him, but he knew he would be okay. He always was. And if he had to start all over again, then he would. But he _needed_ to take this chance. For the baby. For himself.

He couldn't let his fear stop him.

Feeling more assured of his choice, he stood from the bed and packed away his clothes, toiletries, books and datapad into the two larger bags. They fit in perfectly, with only a bit of room to spare.

He looked over at the bed, where the bedding and blankets he'd bought himself, were neatly tucked. They wouldn't fit into the larger two bags, with everything else, but all of it together would fit perfectly into the smaller bag.

And there was nothing else he really wanted to take with him, so he decided he would take them.

The only other thing he could think to take was some of his tea. Most of it was cheap, common black and herbal teas. But one week when he'd been feeling very alone and homesick for his Agricorps co-workers, he'd gone out and found a few boxes of the chai tea that his Agricorps group on Balosar drank constantly. It wasn't the most expensive of teas, but it had been difficult to find in Keldabe.

He took down the last two boxes of the tea from the cupboard and fit them into the last bit of room in the big bags.

He set the two bags by the door and opened the smaller one in preparation for his bedding, but paused when he saw what he'd left in the bag previously.

When he'd first come to Mandalore, he'd left his lightsaber at the bottom of the bag. He couldn't wear it around with him, and he hadn't wanted it in plain sight in case his room was ever broken into.

He reached for it with shaking hands.

It was too small for his hands now. He'd carried it with him even through all his work in the Agricorps, even if he hadn't really used it. It had been a symbol of his station as a Jedi Corps member. The crystal inside had also been a catalyst to help him focus as he worked. Even now, the crystal still sang to him as he gripped the cool Durasteel casing.

That part of his life might be over, but he still carried those memories with him. He always would.

He reverently placed the lightsaber on his bed and wrapped the sheets and blankets around it, packing the whole bundle into the smaller bag.

Now, all he had left was to clean the room. He hoped he would have enough time to clean it by the time Rex returned. He had a feeling the Mandalorian wouldn't be very patient about waiting around until the room was clean to Obi-Wan's standards.

He put a hand on the tiny bump of his stomach. This chapter of his life was closing, he thought looking around the tiny space. He wouldn't miss this room.

A new chapter was starting, and he hoped it would be a good one.

* * *

Rex arrived back at the wretched apartment building about fifty-five minutes after he'd left the _jetii_ to pack, while he returned to campus. That was pretty good time considering it took just over twenty minutes of travel time, each way.

He paid the cab-droid, grabbed his two bags and hurried up the cracked stone-pour steps.

The building's front door was unlocked, which really didn't surprise Rex. This place was so run down that he would have been surprised if there _had_ been any security.

Before he joined Obi-Wan upstairs to see how the kid was getting on with his packing, he headed down the main hall, following the signs for the manager's office. He remembered how concerned Obi-Wan had been about breaking his lease.

The door to the manager's office was open, and a large, very greasy-looking beige Dug was sitting at a messy desk, watching something disturbingly explicit on a datapad and licking his lips, in full-view of the open door.

“Excuse me,” Rex said dry revulsion, not at all impressed with finding the slum landlord of a run-down building sitting around watching videos of what he could only assume were two naked female Dugs kissing and laughing. He really didn't want to see anymore of that, thanks.

“Oh—uuh,” the Dug sputtered as they realized someone was at the door and hurriedly put away the device. “You don't look familiar. Looking for a room?” His eyes narrowed in greedy excitement as he took in Rex's dark, hand-embroidered tunic and honey-brown tailored slacks. “It's only nine hundred credits a month, don't even have to register it under your name... if you're looking for somewhere discrete.”

“No.” Rex flared his nostrils and jutted out his jaw in preparation for a verbal fight if the Dug refused to give him what he wanted. “I'm sure your tenants don't even pay half that amount anyways. But I'm really here on behalf of one of your tenants. Obi-Wan—” Rex paused, realizing he couldn't remember Obi-Wan's last name. “Your tenant in room 3-Mern.”

“The skint uni-student hume?” The dug frowned from beneath a slimy looking nerf-leather cap. And it didn't say anything good about Obi-Wan's situation if the landlord of a place like _this_ thought Obi-Wan was poor.

“Yes, that one. I would like you to release him from his lease and give me back his damage deposit.”

“No way! I had a 10 month contract with him and he's only paid for four of them!” The dug protested and got up from his seat to try to intimidate Rex with his heavily muscled shoulders and arms.

Luckily, Rex was about two feet taller than the Dug and really knew how to handle himself in a fight. No son of Jango Fett's had become a Mandalorian adult without the intensive hand-to-hand training he taught them during their _verd'goten_ s. So Rex knew he could take this Dug if he had to. He didn't think he would though, he was sure as long as he didn't let himself be intimidated by some slumlord sleemo, the Dug would back down.

Rex took a step forward, sneering at the landlord. “Oh yeah, and does that contract include the most dirty, unlivable conditions on Mandalore? I'm happy to take this dispute up with Keldabe's Council of Sentient Rights, and I'll make sure to mention to them the deplorable living conditions of your tenants.”

The Dug scowled at him, caught in a vice of his own volition. “Fine.”

The Dug rooted through a filing cabinet, bringing out a file folder, a new datapad and a black lockbox. He quickly filled out the forms and pushed the datapad across the desk with a stylus. “Sign here,” he pointed to the bottom of a document, stating release of a tenant, with all of the relevant information.

 _Kenobi!_ He thought to himself, reading over the paperwork. _That was his last name._

He signed on behalf of Obi-Wan, making sure to add the legally required “power of attorney” before his name. He couldn't imagine the Dug would try to take him to court over the contract termination, that would bring up too many questions about the Dug's business practices that Rex was sure they would want to hide. But just in case they did, he was sure Obi-Wan would be willing to say he agreed to have Rex sign for him.

The Dug then opened the box and sifted through the contents, which turned out to be full of pre-loaded bank credit chips of different denominations. Finally he handed one over. “There. Three-hundred.”

“If this chip is incorrect, I will be coming back.” Rex picked up the chip and shook it at the Dug threateningly.

The Dug scowled at him. “It's correct. Now get out of my office. And have that stupid kid moved out by the end of the night, or I'll be calling the cops!”

Rex snorted, but agreed. “We'll be by in the next couple of hours to hand in the keys. Pleasure doing business with you.”

The Dug swore at him under his breath as Rex left. He made his way back down the hall and up the stairs to Obi-Wan Kenobi's room.

* * *

Once they gathered all three of Obi-Wan's bags, and Rex convinced Obi-Wan to stop cleaning, Rex called for a cab to take them to the domestic spaceport.

They handed in the keys to the landlord, then hauled all of their luggage out onto the street and into the waiting speeder-cab.

“Where are you taking me?” Obi-Wan said hesitantly, feeling a little scared as they settled into the synth-leather seats.

Rex turned his head away from the commlink that he'd been typing into and frowned at him. “I'm taking you home to my _buir_. He'll know what to do about this whole mess.”

Obi-Wan felt a little resentful at being called a mess, but had to admit to himself that he was a mess. He didn't know what to do with himself or the situation, really.

Before Rex had caught up to him after their exam, he'd been planning to spend the rest of the day writing up a resume and begin looking for a job. He still had enough saved for one more semester of tuition and rent, but after that he would have been absolutely destitute. His savings hadn't been able to be stretch as far as he'd hoped they would, and he knew that babies were expensive. He would need special clothing and furniture for the child, and he wouldn't be able to afford any of those on his own.

The reality was, without Rex's (and hopefully Rex's family's) help, he would have had to drop out of school to look after the baby and work as much as he could. And even then, he hadn't known how he would have made it work financially.

He had no idea where they were going, or what awaited him. He would just have to sit back and pray to the Force that it was somewhere with good, kind people. Knowing Rex Fett though, that didn't seem likely.

Obi-Wan's stomach churned as he looked out the window of the cab, watching Keldabe streets passing by.

* * *

They got to Keldabe's domestic spaceport with two hours to spare.

Rex signed them in for their flight and helped check the _jetii_ 's three large bags and his own two. He offered to carry the _jetii_ 's carry-on for him, but Kenobi was holding the backpack tightly to his chest like it was a lifeline.

The _jetii_ had to have been in a spaceport before. He wasn't from Mandalore, at least the ident he'd taken from the _jetii_ to check them in, hadn't listed him from Mandalore. It had listed his birthplace as Stewjon and his citizenship sponsored by Coruscant. So he had to have flown here from somewhere, but he was looking around the terminal with wide-eyes as if he'd never seen a place like this.

Why someone would want to come to _Keldabe_ for school though, if they could attend one of the many well-known and reputable universities or technical schools on Coruscant, Rex couldn't figure out. The University of Mandalore's Main Campus here in Keldabe wasn't anything to write home about from his perspective.

Rex thought about asking the other man why he'd come to UM, but brushed the thought aside for leading Kenobi through security. 

Rex found their departure lounge easily as the flight-line he usually used almost always flew out of the same terminal. He had started using this flight-line because he got a discount. They provided a decent, clean service and Rex hadn't ever had a reason to change. He wondered if his cousin Oddvar, or Oddball as he liked to be called (and what was with his family having obsessions with strange nicknames?), knew Rex always used Oddball's employee discount.

Rex found himself a seat not far from their boarding area and sat down to wait out the next two hours. He was determined to ignore the shakes in his hands and the fact that there _was_ a bar in the airport, only a couple hanger lounges down. He'd lasted this far in the day without any alcohol, he could last a bit longer.

Pulling on a pair of dark glasses, Rex relaxed, sprawling out in the uncomfortable plasteel seats. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a short nap; after all, they had ample time to wait.

The _jetii_ came up to stand close by him but didn't sit down, which irritated Rex.

“Take a seat, won't you?” Rex looked up at the other, voice annoyed. “Our flight isn't for almost two hours. It won't do you good standing there anxiously.”

Now that Rex was looking at him, the _jetii_ looked pale and frail, almost like he was about to fall apart at any second. He was clutching his bag so tightly, his fingertips had turned white and his eyes were wide, darting around, taking in the flight lounge.

“Sorry,” the _jetii_ said softly, taking a seat one-away from Rex.

Rex sighed, it looked like he wasn't going to get any shut-eye with the tense _jetii_ sitting close by. “How do you think you did on the exam?” He asked, trying to be polite.

“Alright, I think,” the _jetii_ said hesitantly. “Honestly, I was more concerned with trying not to vomit, rather than worrying about how difficult the questions were.”

“Same,” Rex chuckled.

He hadn't thought when he'd woken up this morning, hungover, that a few hours later he would be sitting here with the _jetii_ , waiting for a late flight home. But here they were.

“I probably should have eaten something before the exam though. Going in hungry was a bad idea.” He'd ended up having to grab a sandwich on the way off-campus, after he'd picked up his luggage, earlier. And even though it hadn't satisfied him, he didn't feel faint anymore.

“Yeah, I get that.” Kenobi said, twisting the canvas material of his bag unconsciously.

Rex's gut clenched. He hadn't seen the _jetii_ eat anything all day, and he'd been busy cleaning and packing when Rex had come to retrieve him. “But you've had something since, right?”

Kenobi looked over at him and shrugged.

Rex sighed again and stood. “Come on, we've still got almost two hours. Let's get you something to eat.”

“N—no, that's okay,” the _jetii_ 's pale throat worked as he looked nervously up at Rex. “I don't have any money to buy anything.”

Rex mourned how much more of his pocket money he was going to lose, but it seemed like the decent thing to do: to feed the scrawny kid carrying his baby. Not to mention that the _jetii_ was taller than Rex, and yet he was definitely thinner than Rex. And his clothes proved he hadn't always been this gaunt. “It's fine. I'll get you this time.”

Kenobi stood and hesitantly followed Rex through the lounge and towards some of the merchant areas of the spaceport.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanna say how much I appreciate all of your feedback. The feedback on chapter 7 was AMAZING!! I am going to go back and respond to y'all, but know that all of you who commented kept my little buns writing furiously at this story! :)
> 
> I'm also finished the next chapter, it just needs one more edit through before it goes up, so I'm thinking sometime later today as long as I get some more time to edit today after I do chores and spend some time with the fam.
> 
> eta: new chap is up! :D


	9. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I know Kalevala was supposed to be mostly toxic desert in Legends, but then that got retconned by Lucasfilms. Kalevala was only non-descriptively mentioned in Clone Wars, but not the fact that they had any domes or anything, so I've come up with a solution of my own for the world to be habitable in this AU. As always, this is AU inspired by the GFFA, so take all ideas/info with a grain of salt. :)
> 
> -Obi is 20 weeks into his pregnancy in this chapter (out of 56. First trimester is 1-18, second is 19-36, last trimester is 37-56.)
> 
> **-If you didn't catch it, this is the second chapter I've uploaded today, so don't forget to read Chapter 8 as well.**
> 
> Translations:  
>  _jetii_ : Jedi, singular  
>  _buir/buire_ : parent, singular/plural  
>  _tihaar_ : alcoholic drink - strong clear spirit made from fruit, like eau de vie  
>  _shig_ : Mandalore's answer to tea. An infusion beverage of whatever's available, but usually a mildly stimulant herb with a citrus flavor called behot.  
>  _Haat Mando'ade_ : True Mandalorians  
>  _Manda'yaim_ : the planet Mandalore  
>  _Ka'ra_ : the stars / the mythological ruling council of fallen kings  
>  _besom_ : ill-mannered lout, unhygienic person, someone with no manners (in Mandalorian terms)  
>  _Ke'mot!_ : Halt, stop
> 
> Finnish: (yes there are some Finnish influences in this story, though they'll mostly be in names/places rather than spoken language.)  
> Kalevala: In SW a planet in the Mandalore system. In Finnish oral folklore and mythology, it was the name of the epic story about the Creation of the Earth.  
> Ilmatar: The capital of Kalevala (in this AU). Name comes from the goddess or spirit of the air in the Kalevala (Finnish creation story).  
> Ilmarinen: The tall/giant metal air purifiers spread throughout Kalevala (in this AU). Name comes from the heroic Blacksmith/inventor in the Kalevala who crafted the dome of the sky.  
> Poh'jola: The name of the Fett's homestead/compound. Derived from Pohja/Pohjola, a Finnish location in the Kalevala. Literally meaning Northland.  
>  **äiti** : The Finnish word for mother.

* * *

Kenobi was still wide-eyed as they flew closer to Kalevala. Rex had kindly given Obi-Wan the seat by the window, and the _jetii_ 's nose was pressed against it. He was staring out into space as they came out of hyperspace and slowly approached Rex's home planet.

The ship traveled up from the south of the planet towards the north, and the _jetii_ watched as the toxic southern deserts slowly faded into green pastures and rivers, the land sprinkled with small agricultural towns. The largest city and capital on the planet, Ilmatar, where they'd be landing, was close to the northern pole of the planet. The very top and Northern pole of the planet was where their small ocean started, and ran down the opposite side of the planet from the capital. The ocean wasn't visible from this angle of their arrival, but Rex knew it was the deepest emerald green, if they had been able to see it. He also knew that if they had come in from that side, the _jetii_ would see the current clean-up project working on cleansing the pollution and toxic waste from it's depths.

“It looks smaller than Mandalore,” Kenobi remarked quietly.

Rex sighed and took another drink of the _tihaar_ and tonic he'd gotten from the on-ship delicatessen. The shakes had gotten bad and he'd needed a drink to help steady himself. “Yeah, the planet is smaller than _Manda'yaim_. Our planet capital Ilmatar borders both the ocean to the north and the most productive land to it's west and south.”

“What are all those large durasteel towers?”

Rex peered over Kenobi's shoulder and looked at where the _jetii_ was pointing. The large towers dotted the planet in symmetrical rows on the top side of the planet. “Ah, those. They are the Ilmarinen. They are giant air scrubbers and purifiers to help clean the air. Some of them are non-functional now. But back when the Mand'alor began the project to revitalize Kalevala, long before I was born, they were forged and set all along the major meridians to help clean the air and get it ready for land reclamation.

“It was an experiment to see if Mandalore could recover land that had been damaged from the wars.” Rex continued, “The citizens of this planet had long been farmers, but they'd had poor yields and had been reduced to cultivating and growing in small areas of domed land. Some of the old greenhouse domes are still around here or there, but as the planet has been revitalized more and more, people are having success raising livestock on the ground and growing heartier plants in some of the more fertile areas. The worst of the toxicity is to the south, hence why a lot of that land is still unclaimed deserts.”

“How do you know so much about all of that?” Kenobi turned and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

Rex blushed. “When the _Haat Mando'ade_ took power, my father was just growing out of his teen years. His _buir_ wanted him to have life outside the army, so he was entrusted with the job to oversee the reclamation project on Kalevala. My father was given a stewardship over Kalevala and the Fetts were gifted land that my father still works to revitalize all over the planet. Other than Mandalore's military history, it's my father's favorite topic of conversation.”

“I see,” Obi-Wan said awkwardly, not sure what to say to that. “And what should I expect when I meet your family?”

Rex knew this whole situation had been sprung quite surprisingly on other man, but he wasn't really sure how his family was going to feel when they realized why exactly Rex had brought the _jetii_ home with him. And until he absolutely _had_ to introduce Kenobi to them, he was going to try not to think about it. Maybe even keep them apart for as long as possible. Really he just wanted to delay the inevitable arguments.

“They'll be busy when we first get there. So don't worry about it,” he said a bit harshly, mind far away.

The _jetii_ looked nervous at Rex's words, not that the Mandalorian noticed.

So instead of pushing the topic, Kenobi sat back in his seat, crossing his hands over his tiny bump unconsciously. “Alright.”

Neither of them said anything else as the ship began to descend into Kalevala's atmosphere.

* * *

After they disembarked the ship and gathered their luggage, Rex led them through the small airport and to customs.

Married couples and family members were allowed to see a customs agent together. Since Rex was a Mandalorian citizen, he figured it would be easier to claim Kenobi as part of his family, rather than worry about any problems with the _jetii_ 's student visa regulations or worry about trying to get through immigration instead.

When the line admitted them into the next booth, Rex quickly filled out his information, adding in Kenobi as a sponsored family member on the provided datapad. He used Kenobi's identcard to add in any necessary information and hit submit.

The airport seemed to be quite dead, so once Rex had submitted their information, an agent was ready for them and waved them forward. The Rodian working as the customs agent seemed incredibly bored as he quickly went over the information with them to insure it's accuracy. Since Kenobi was coming through as a newly claimed family member, Rex then expected to be questioned about their relationship and terms of their visitation to Kalevala, but to his surprise, the Rodian let them through the line with a yawn.

Rex hadn't realized how easily it would be to get Kenobi through customs by simply claiming him, and was both glad and a bit shocked at how they'd been sent on without even having to answer any further questions.

Shouldn't there be more careful screening than that? He would definitely have to take that up with his _buir_ , once the man got over his anger when he found out about the baby.

Kenobi looked dead on his feet as Rex lead him through the rest of the airport and towards the pick-up zone.

On Manda'yaim, Life Day was both at the very beginning of their winter and the climate was temperature controlled, and so they'd left Keldabe in light clothing. But on Kalevala, with it's slightly longer years, right now their spring was about to start. In a few short weeks, the weather would begin to warm. And the frostbitten, short wild grass that was now growing in abundance on the northern half of the planet, would begin to lengthen and change from it's dull winter grey into the most vibrant aquamarine.

But right now, it was still pretty cold outside.

Normally, Rex would have taken Kenobi straight outside to wait for Rex's cousin, Wolffe, to pick them up from the curb for his cousin. But with the cold, instead Rex stopped them just next to the doors, sat Kenobi down on a bench and comm'ed his cousin.

“What.”

“As pleasant as always, Wolffe. We just got through customs. How far are you away?”

“I'll be there in about 25,” and with that Wolffe hung up.

Rex snorted at his cousin's brisk manner and sat down beside Kenobi, who was slowly falling asleep against the transperisteel wall.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Rex woke Kenobi up.

They gathered their pile of luggage and went through the auto-sliding doors out into the chilly evening air. It would be quicker for everyone if they were ready to be picked up as soon as Wolffe came by in his speeder. _Ka'ra_ knew that Wolffe was one impatient _besom_ and despite his cousin's bad mood, Rex did recognize his cousin was doing him a favor so, he wanted to be ready to go.

Not even three minutes later, Wolffe's speeder pulled up beside them.

“Didn't even have to call you to find out which door you'd be at,” Wolffe said grumpily and got out to help Rex load up their luggage. “I could see that radioactive dyed-fuzz you call hair from a click away.”

Rex scowled at his cousin. “Gee, thanks Wolffe. Haven't seen you in almost seven months and that's the first thing you have to say to me?”

“Well what do you want?” Wolffe's eyes narrowed as he set one of Obi-Wan's beaten-up bags in the small containment cargo hold next to Rex's shiny, black nerf-leather bags. “This is the first time I've heard from you in all of those seven months, and it was to ask for a favour. You haven't really endeared yourself to me lately.”

Rex sighed, trying to relax his shoulders.

“And who are you?” Wolffe asked Obi-Wan in his usual, slightly abrasive manner.

“Uhm, Obi-Wan?” Obi-Wan said hesitantly, he was standing on the curb still, hugging himself tightly.

“Are you sure?” Wolffe teased in a gruff, but strangely gentle, way. Rex was surprised to see Wolffe smile and hold out his hand. “I'm Wolffe, Rex's much more handsome cousin.”

Obi-Wan looked between the two of them in confusion. “You two look a lot alike,” he hesitantly clasped Wolffe's forearm in greeting.

Not wanting to give his cousin a chance to wax on about the strength of the Fett genes (or to mention the uncanny resemblance between Rex and his Aunt Ker's kids), Rex grabbed the second of Kenobi's bags and stuffed it into the hold and loudly shut the compartment. “Get in the speeder, Kenobi. You'll have to put your last bag on the backseat, there's no more room back here.”

And it was a good thing that Kenobi had so few of things he wanted to take with him from Keldabe. Wolffe's speeder wasn't that big. Rex tried not to think about how sad it was that Kenobi's whole life could be packed down to three scuffed-up bags.

Wolffe looked between the two of them, shrugged and got into the driver's seat.

Rex helped Kenobi settle into the back seat with his last piece of luggage and backpack, and then sat in the front next to Wolffe.

Wolffe drove them out of the spaceport's complex and onto the main road, the cool evening wind ripping through their hair.

The three were quiet for the first ten minutes, until Wolffe took the turnoff that redirected them onto the highway south and out of the city.

“So, what's up with you bringing someone home with you?” Wolffe said quietly to Rex.

Rex glanced in the side mirror back at Kenobi, who was looking out at the thawing fields of cut stalks from last fall's harvest, and sighed. “I'll tell you later.”

“You'd better,” Wolffe bit out impatiently. He focused back on the road, which was getting less busy the further they got from the urban center. “And soon.”

The speeder turned onto a secondary road, following the signs for _Poh'jola_.

“Tomorrow.” Rex capitulated.

“Alright. Tomorrow, breakfast. Oddball is getting in from his last flight of the season. We'll pick him up from the spaceport and go to breakfast, the five of us.”

“Five?” Rex frowned over at his cousin.

“Are you forgetting Boost? And Hardcase finished his High school exams for the semester, two days ago. He'll want to tag along.”

They turned onto a gravel road that lead up to the compound.

“How's Boost doing?” Rex asked lowly, guilt making his belly squirm. He knew that amongst his extended family, he had earned a bit of reputation about not caring about anyone but himself. But he did care, sometimes it just hurt too much to think about.

“He's doing much better. His shoulder and face have completely healed. You know, he doesn't think it's your fault. And if it's still weighing on you, you should talk to him.”

“If he doesn't blame me, then he's the only one.”

Wolffe scowled and rolled his eyes as much as he was able to, while still trying to keep his eyes on the road. “I don't know why you have that in your head, Rex'ika. But whatever. You're not the only one this has effected.”

“I know!” Rex had to keep himself from screaming in his cousin's face. “That's what everyone keeps telling me. 'Think about someone else for a change Rex', 'You're so selfish Rex', 'Not everything is about you Rex'.” He whined, his voice going higher and lower, imitating his aunt, brother and father.

Wolffe's shoulders tightened, his posture going stiff. “Fuck you, Rex. All we've ever tried to do is help you. You know that.”

Wolffe slowed the speeder as they turned down a paved side road and approached a wide gate. He punched in the code at the gate, angrily.

Rex sighed and rubbed his face, ignoring the signs that littered the gate announcing the gated compound as _Poh'jola_.

There were multiple warning signs professing: “private property”, “keep out” and even a few strange ones like “low-flying aircraft” and “live artillery on site”. When he'd been a kid, he'd thought signs like that around your house was normal. Was it any wonder that he'd grown up so screwed up? He'd basically grown up as an army brat on a military compound.

They pulled through the gate as it opened, and up into the drive of the first house, which also happened to be the largest.

Rex got out of the passenger seat and stretched. It had only been a half an hour drive, but combined with the rest of the day's travel, he was feeling a bit stiff.

Obi-Wan was blinking in and out of sleep in the backseat, slumped down over his backpack.

Wolffe unloaded the hold while Rex tried his best to rouse Kenobi, helping him out of the speeder.

Wolffe put down the last of the luggage and looked between Rex, Kenobi and the front door. “Do you need me to help you make a run in with your bags?”

Rex waved off his cousin, “It's fine. I'll come back for them after I take Kenobi in.”

Wolffe nodded and hopped into the drivers seat to restart the speeder. “See you in the morning. We'll have to leave at 0740 in order to pick Oddball up on time.”

Rex nodded and watched his cousin drive down the street and up another house's drive. For a long moment he stared out at the neat row of houses before turning and helping the sleepy _jetii_ into the house and up the stairs to his room.

* * *

When Obi-Wan woke up, Rex was nowhere to be seen, and the other side of the bed was cold.

Sunlight was streaming through the tasteful cream curtains that bracketed three tall, rectangular windows.

He slowly stood from the bed and stepped over to the windows, looking out on the “compound” he hadn't really seen last night before Rex had ushered him into the house.

A small road ran past the house and separated the large house he was in from three others across the way, he couldn't see beyond those. Each house looked well-made and rather new in build. From what little he could see of the street, there were a few neatly trimmed bushes and some very small, new-looking, leafless trees artfully planted around the yards, each plant surrounded by thick grey grass. He wondered what colors would bloom in the yard as the season changed and the foliage grew. Yesterday, on the spacehop over from Mandalore, Rex had said that winter was just ending on Kalevala. So he wondered how the planet would transform in the warmer weather.

Turning away, Obi-Wan looked cautiously around the room. It was large, square and open, with a fireplace, desk and large window taking up one half of the room, and the bed and three matching doors taking up the other side of the room. He walked around the bed and opened the closest door to the exterior wall, through which he found a large walk-in closet where his luggage stood unopened. Checking the next door he found a small shared 'fresher, and the last led out into a simple, but open hallway, with closed doors and a staircase going down.

He went back into the 'fresher and went about his morning ablutions. He wondered whose bedroom was on the other side of the closed adjoining door, but wasn't quite brave enough to knock or open it.

He finished using the toilet, washing his hands and face before heading back into Rex's room. He would have brushed his teeth too, but hadn't unpacked his toothbrush, and wasn't quite sure if he was supposed to unpack or not.

To be honest, he wasn't quite sure what he was even doing here. All he knew was that Rex thought the situation with him and the baby was a mess, and he had brought Obi-Wan home to discuss the situation with Rex's family...

So did that mean Obi-Wan would be staying in this room until they could figure out a place for him to live? Did that mean he was staying just for the holidays and then he would return with Rex to Keldabe and school afterwards? Did that mean Obi-Wan was going to live here from now on? There were a lot of possibilities, and Obi-Wan felt his stomach turn at the thought of not knowing what was going to happen to him.

He sat back down on the bed quietly, twisting his hands.

Should he stay here and wait for Rex to come back? Or should he go out into the house and find him?

They'd gotten in quite late the night before, and Obi-Wan had fallen asleep as soon as Rex had convinced him to lay down. He wished he'd stayed awake long enough last night to at least talk with Rex about what was supposed to happen.

He felt so unsure.

And then he felt his stomach rumble in hunger. Ever since his healer had told him he needed to be eating more times a day, he'd taken to eating three or four small snack-like meals over the whole course of the day, instead of large meals once or twice a day. He'd even found that this helped his nausea quite a bit. Yesterday he'd had little time or chance to eat, and was happy he hadn't ended up vomiting at all. The busyness of the day had helped somehow.

So he should probably eat now. He'd rather not wait for Rex to return, especially if that was going to take some time. He was nauseated enough that he knew if he waited for more than thirty minutes to eat, he'd more than likely push his body into an episode of morning sickness. And Obi-Wan would prefer to avoid vomiting right now. He hadn't vomited in almost a week and a half, which was quite good considering the last few months.

As of today he was 20 weeks along. He covered the tiny bump that jutted out from his abdomen with his hand. It felt so much more real now that he was into his second trimester. He vaguely knew that an expecting mother was more likely to lose a baby in their first trimester. Which meant he was most likely going to be able to carry this child to term.

That was both a relieving and terrifying thought.

His stomach rumbled again.

Obi-Wan stood from the bed and paced for a few seconds along the lush throw rug that lay close to the bed.

Would Rex be mad if he left in search of food? Rex had seemed to think it was important to feed Obi-Wan yesterday, when they'd been at the airport, even though he hadn't had to. So he would probably be okay with him leaving, right?

Stomach twisting and turning in both hunger and anxiety, Obi-Wan made up his mind and went over to the closet.

He was only in his smalls, so he put on a clean tunic and pair of leggings, before quietly exiting into the hallway.

The hall was empty, with multiple closed doors along both sides. To the left, a large staircase descended. Obi-Wan was vaguely sure this was the staircase they'd come up the night before.

As a guest, he didn't want to snoop, so Obi-Wan headed carefully down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, was the large entryway, with the outside door they'd come in from the night before to the right, an open door on the left and a hall that branched out, straight across from him.

The doorway to the left looked in on a wall of awards and bookshelves, making Obi-Wan think it was probably a library or office. In most modern architecture, the kitchen was usually on the ground floor and away from the front door, so he thought his best bet was to follow the hallway across from him. He stepped forward, moving hesitantly, and into the line of sight of the open doorway.

As he walked by, a voice called from the room to the left, causing Obi-Wan to freeze.

“ _Ke'mot!_ ” 

He turned to face a middle-aged man, with dark coloring and strong shoulders getting up from a large desk.

He asked something fiercely in Mando'a, but when Obi-Wan shook his head, the man switched to basic.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my house?” The man asked in a Mandalorian accent similar to Rex's. Now as the man got closer, Obi-Wan could tell that Rex shared many facial features with this man. They both had the same nose, mouth and dark, intense eyes. Rex's face was rounder than this man's, with slightly more defined cheekbones and slightly lighter, cooler-toned skin. Whereas this man's skin was a rich, dark chestnut with red undertones, and he had many facial scars that gave him a fierce, serious look.

“I'm, uh, Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Obi-Wan hugged himself, rubbing his upper arms for warmth and comfort.

“Who?” The man's eyes were consumed with what seemed like a righteous anger. Obi-Wan couldn't help notice that the man had his hand on a blaster holstered at his waist. As if Obi-Wan was any sort of threat.

“Rex didn't tell you?” Obi-Wan bit his lip, feeling very awkward and exposed.

The man sighed and his hand slid away from his blaster. “I'm Jango Fett. I think you'd better come in my office,” he gestured Obi-Wan into the neat and orderly room, closing the door behind them.

* * *

“I've never heard of you, so why would Rex bring you home for the holidays?” Jango asked, trying not to sound too cruel, as he sat behind his desk. The boy across from him looked uncomfortably nervous. He had a feeling when he heard the kid say Rex's name, that Jango wasn't going to like whatever the kid was about to say.

“We spent the night together at the beginning of the semester,” The kid said cryptically.

Jango frowned in confusion, wondering where this conversation was leading.

“I'm from Stewjon.” The kid expanded awkwardly, as if that would explain everything.

Jango just shook his head, not understanding what the kid was trying to tell him.

The kid's forehead wrinkled. “I'm pregnant. And Rex is the father,” the kid finally said slowly, his whole body tight with discomfort.

Jango looked down at the kid's stomach. The beginning of the semester was months ago. He couldn't tell from this angle, but he wouldn't be surprised if a tiny bump was being concealed beneath the kid's shapeless tunic.

His first grandchild. “And you're together?” Jango cleared his throat awkwardly.

The kid shook his head. “Only that one night. Rex didn't really want anything to do with the baby at first. And he said... Well, it doesn't matter anymore I guess. But then yesterday he apologized and followed me home and saw where I was living...” The kid trailed off into silence.

“And?” Jango probed gently. He wasn't surprised he didn't know about any of this. He was more surprised that Rex had brought the kid home at all. Rex was more the kind of person to run away from his problems than bring them home to meet his family for Life Day.

“As I was saying,” The kid rubbed his upper arms again, in some kind of habitual ritual to give himself comfort. “He followed me home yesterday after our exam and saw my room and said it was a dump. He said...” The kid closed his eyes, whether to search for the right answer, or to forget, Jango wasn't sure. “He said everything was a huge mess and he didn't want me or the baby living there. He said that his _buir_?” The word sounded unfamiliar on the kid's tongue. “That's you right?” He asked.

He looked Jango dead in the eyes, and Jango was shocked at the shade of blue they were. They reminded him of Helmi's eyes.

Jango hesitantly nodded. “Yes. I'm Rex's father, his _buir_.”

“Ah,” the kid nodded as if that cleared some things up. He continued, “He said his _buir_ would know what to do. So he made me pack up my stuff and broke my lease with my landlord and we flew in last night.”

Jango felt inconsolable. Rex hadn't had the decency to even tell Jango.

And not only was this kid, who he knew nothing about, carrying his grandchild, but the kid seemed to have been somewhat maltreated by Rex.

Sure, Jango was glad that _at least_ Rex had brought the kid and his future grandchild home to be taken care of. But where did Rex get off, treating the mother of his future child so poorly. And then he just left this morning without even a word about this kid to Jango or _anyone_ in the family.

Where had they gone so wrong in raising Rex? Where had _Jango_ gone so wrong?

* * *

_Rex ran into the kitchen, where his mother would be at this time of day._

_"Äiti," Rex sobbed, running to his mother and clinging to her waist._

_"What's wrong my little King?" Her warm hands reached down and cradled his face._

_"Kote said I can't play with him and Wolffe. They said I'm too little to play soldiers."_

_Unseen to him, his _buir_ had followed him to the room, and stood shadowed in the doorway, listening to his wife and second son. He could only see the right side of Rex's face from where he was positioned, but it was enough to recognize his emotive son's expressions._

_"Oh dear. That's not a nice thing for them to say, is it." Her work-rough thumb stroked his brow, and she crouched down so she would be at eye-level with him._

_"I'm not too little!" Rex protested loudly. "Four is very big."_

_His wife smiled kindly at Rex, tilting her head, thinking. For a moment, her eyes flickered up and met Jango's and a quick hint of amusement crossed her face and disappeared. "It is very big indeed. But sometimes people don't want to play with us. What if you and I wanted to read together, like we do every afternoon, and Cody wanted to join us?"_

_Rex frowned, closing his eyes at the comforting touch on his face. "He could join us. I would share."_

_She laughed softly. "That's very kind of you Rex'ika. But it's also okay sometimes to say no. What if Cody wanted to read with us and wouldn't let you pick any of the books. Would you want him to read with us again next time?"_

_Rex's face puckered in thought. "No," he admitted softly._

_"Not everyone will always want to play with us, to share with us. Sometimes we have to accept that."_

_"But isn't it the nice thing to share? To let someone else play too?" Rex asked innocently._

_"Of course. But not everyone is nice all the time. Sometimes we are the meanest to those we love the most."_

_"I'm not!" Rex cried, sure. "I'm never mean."_

_"Really," her voice said dryly, eyebrow raised. Her eyes flickered again to Jango, whose dark cheeks reddened at the implied rebuke to both son **and** father. They both had a cruel streak if they let it get away from them._

_Rex twisted his fingers anxiously in the edge of her tunic, his own little cheeks turning red. "Only sometimes."_

_"Rex, we must be kind to everyone. Even when they aren't nice to us. Even when they don't want to play with us, or don't have time for us, or even when they take away my attention," she tucked her blond hair behind her ear._

_Rex looked away, embarrassed, his long, curly light-brown hair swaying at the move._

_"We must especially be nice to all our family, because we won't all be four forever. One day you're going to grow up. And how would you feel if one day you are as old as me, and you can't talk to your brothers or your father because you spent so much time being upset at them for not playing with you, or you were too busy to spend time with them?" Her blue-grey eyes caught Jango's for split second, her gaze intent._

_Jango knew the last words were pointed at him. Helmi could be so subtly pointed when she wanted to be. So yes, he had received the message loud and clear._

_Jango took one last look at his wife and second son and quietly left, hearing only the last bit of their conversation._

_"Okay. I'll try to do better äiti."_

_“I know you will, My little King. I have faith in you.”_

* * *

That moment had been forgotten for many years.

It was only here, faced with the aftermath of Rex's newest cruelty that Jango remembered how Helmi was so good at rebuking Rex, but doing so in such a loving and kind matter. After one of their talks, their son would always reconsider his actions and try to be better. But she could also rebuke Jango in such a caring way, and as a result he was quick to always follow her lead in emotional matters.

She had always made them all _better_ men. And it was moments like this that he missed her so much he could barely breathe.

Jango knew he was failing his son. But he didn't know how to talk to Rex. He didn't have the same connection with Rex that Helmi had. Jango didn't know how to make Rex _see_ why he was so wrong. Why his son needed to change. In this, and in so many other things.

Helmi had tried to teach Rex right from wrong, even back then. She'd done such a wonderful job. And then she'd died and it was like everything Rex had learned from her was lost, put away and never to be seen again.

Just like her memory. Jango couldn't remember the last time he'd even heard Rex talk about her.

Jango missed her everyday. But none more so than today, as the young man that Rex had knocked up sat uncomfortably in the chair across from his desk. She would have known what to do.

Jango knew he would help take care of this kid and the child he was carrying, but he worried about how much damage he was going to have to try to heal in both this kid and in Rex himself. Jango had never been subtle or delicate like Helmi had been, so he couldn't imagine any of his attempts would go so well.

But he had try, for her, for their hurting son who seemed to be lashing out at the world. He would do his best for his family, for his son, and for this child that would be born to them. He only hoped it would be enough.

“So, Ser Kenobi was it? How did you meet Rex?" He asked quietly, feeling a bit awkward that his son wasn't even here to help smooth the meeting.

The pale young man blushed and folded his arms again in discomfort. “Call me Obi-Wan.”

"Obi-Wan then," the name felt a bit clumsy in his mouth. "You must call me Jango. I suspect we will be getting to know each other well, before long."

"It's nice to meet you, Jango," the redhead murmured anxiously, looking more and more pale by the second.

Well, it was a start.

“Are you... alright?” Jango asked the kid... no, he asked _Obi-Wan_. The redhead was looking rather ill suddenly.

“I don't—” whatever Obi-Wan was going to say was cut off as he began to retch.

While Jango wasn't really active in the army anymore, he still kept up with all his drills. He was still quick in action and instinct, even if not always quick in thought. So he grabbed the small trash bin he kept by his desk and moved it under Obi-Wan's mouth before the kid could puke all over himself.

The kid curled his hands around the bin as he vomited, so Jango could step away. When he'd finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and set down the bin. “Do you want me to put this somewhere?” He looked down at the floor in shame.

“Just leave it there, someone can attend to it later. Come on, let's go get you something to drink so you can clean out your mouth, and maybe some crackers and _shig_ to settle your stomach.”

Obi-Wan looked ridiculously grateful at the common courtesy Jango was showing him, which made him feel another swell of anger at his son and a swell of hopelessness over the situation.

“Come on,” Jango put his hand on the kid's shoulder, and guided him out of the room, trying to ignore how Obi-Wan seemed to lean into it, desperate for a kind touch.

He had a lot of work to do, _Ka'ra_ help him. And if he was going to do this right, Jango was going to need a lot more support.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay healthy lovelies! <3 And as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. :)


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